Bloodlines
by baby5oh
Summary: "I love my children and all, but I never expected them to turn out like this." A new generation, a new power and, well, a new villain, but it's going to get a lot more complicated than. With a new evil and new powers, the children of the original Winx have got their work cut out for them. Rated T for language, gore and some suggestiveness.
1. Chapter 1

**1: Raze And Phoenix With Crowbars Is A Cult Icon**

Raze made a frame with her hands, holding it up and peering through with one eye shut. Cass peered at her sceptically, while Jake and Tor shook their heads, giving up hope.

"Now, there's something about this that doesn't look totally right."

Phoenix smirked, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"You know what it needs, Raze Skinner?" Phoenix asked, prodding her friend's shoulder. "It needs you and me, wielding crowbars."

"Please, not again with the crowbars," Jake moaned, running her fingers through her already messy flaming red waves.

"Aw, but 'Raze Skinner and Phoenix Altamirano With Crowbars' is a cult icon," Cass conceded, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She choked down some black coffee, letting the hot liquid warm her hand through the paper cup. Tor tilted her head back and moaned.

"Why didn't I get the 'kick-my-arse' coffee? This is barely even bringing me around," she moaned. Raze shrugged.

"Phoenix got the coffees, and you know she never gets anything beyond 'wake-me-up'."

"Hey," Phoenix replied, defensive, "It's not my problem if you decided that staying up 'till three in the morning is a good idea."

"But it's the weekend, and the weekend is a great time to kick some arse in Warcraft," Jake whined. She stuffed a chocolate chip cookie into her mouth. It dripped with coffee. Jake looked at Tor accusingly.

"Look here," she snapped, "at least I have genetic reasons for being an-soc, Jacelya of Eraklyon."

"Lutoria of Linphea," Jake said flatly, "that's bullshit."

"Eff off, you nimrod," she snapped.

"Snarky, much," Raze commented, eyebrows raised. She shook out her dirty blonde hair and tied it up roughly.

"No need to bring out the titles," Phoenix said, raising her hands in a gesture of 'Calm down, crazy woman'.

"_Lutoria_. What were my parents thinking?" Tor muttered darkly, staring into her black coffee as if it held the secrets of the universe.

"Hey, don't say a _thing_," Raze snorted. "My mom went absolutely, utterly and decidedly mental when she was naming me and Alethea and Kazul."

"Raze, why on _earth_ did you choose Skinner as your last name?" Cass peered at Raze peevishly.

"You know how I love to see Mother screech," Raze replied with a very crooked grin. "It's a deserved retribution for the ridiculous amount of letters she had to put into my name."

"Oh, dear," Cass replied, deadpan. She stabbed her toast with a fork and stuffed a corner into her mouth.

"Wait. Why did we need crowbars in the first place?" Tor asked, still not awake. She slumped, cheek hitting the table with a dull thud.

"Oh!" Raze yelled, jumping to her feet. She was promptly glared at.

"Raze, you're a royal from Solaria. Calm the freak down," Jake ground out.

"No way! Not when the Mitzi-daughter clan is around!"

Phoenix smirked, tapping her fingers on the table. The door to the little Gardenia coffee shop flew open.

"_RAZE SKINNER, PHOENIX ALTAMIRANO, CASSIA EVANSLEIGH, TORIA HARKER, JACELYA ELLIOT_," Aerin exploded, "_YOU'RE IN FOR AN ARSE-KICKING_!"

"Oh, dear," Cass drawled, entirely unimpressed. Tor, _still_ not awake, blinked and downed her coffee.

"Why?" Raze called. Aerin blinked and ran a hand through her caramel hair.

"Oh," she gaped. "Uh, don't worry, nothing to see here!"

She scampered to the table that the five girls were sharing. Mitzi-daughter clan chief, Kryslyn, strutted over to their table, hips swaying in an entirely contrived manner. Her endowments were spilling out of her spaghetti-strap midriff top, no doubt supplemented by the use of chicken fillets.

"Kryslyn," Cass sighed, "It's too early. Call back at eleven."

"Aw, is the Kryslyn too much to handle for poor widdle Calli baby?"

"Oh, get it right, please?" Tor groaned, tone dripping with scorn. "It's Cass, not Calli."

"Kryslyn, you're a total bore," Jake muttered. Aerin hit Jake upside the head, and propped her hands on her hips. Her caramel hair swished to her waist. She was unimpressed.

"I was sent to get you guys," she muttered darkly, "the 'rents got their hands full, but they want you back to sit the youngers. You people are insufferable, you know?"

"No, not the youngers!"

Tor spluttered and sprayed her coffee over Kryslyn's too-tight micro-mini.

"!"Aerin blurted, dragging Tor upright. Tor latched onto Jake, who latched onto Raze, who grabbed Phoenix, who accosted Cass. The chain of girls was dragged up and out of the coffee shop. Kryslyn blinked, and looked at her skirt.

"TORIA HARKER!"

* * *

><p>It was a hellhole.<p>

Children ran from floor to ceiling on sugar and caffeine. Lutasia of Linphea hung from a chandelier as Tor's twin, Tyler, hollered at her, wringing his hip-length ponytail with both hands. He looked indescribably frazzled, and had resorted to yelling threats and incoherent gibberish. Tasia blew a raspberry and started swinging on the chandelier, rocking it back and forth in a cacophony of crystal clinking against crystal as the metal of the lighting fixture creaked alarmingly. Tor pursed her lips and clicked her fingers. The metal arms of the chandelier wrapped themselves securely around Tasia and lowered her to the floor, where both the Linphean twins grabbed their unruly sister and wrestled her into a broom cupboard until straitjacket could be found. Tyler went to run to his room to look for such an article of clothing. Tor produced a pair of fluffy pink handcuffs and Tyler did a double-take. He goggled.

Tor wiggled her eyebrows and Tyler rolled his eyes, unimpressed with his _very_ kinky sister.

Riley mooned Phoenix, her violently violet hair in a crazy mess. Phoenix roared and grabbed her younger sister, turning her over her knee and spanking her silly. Riley flailed, clipping Phoenix in the face, and Phoenix tackled Riley bodily, sitting on her as Riley flailed with fists and feet.

Ambrose was close to tears, trying to impose order upon his younger siblings Kata and Orion. Jake decided that assisting her brother was in some sort of order. She waded into the fray, wincing and pushing her younger yet somehow taller brother out of the way, grabbing Kata and Orion by the backs of their shirts. In a feat of superhuman ability, she lifted them off the ground and knocked their heads together.

Raze picked up Alethea by the ankles and shook her once, the twice when she wouldn't desist. She grabbed her younger brother Kazul by the ear and hit him soundly over the head when he tried to escape from her grasp. At her superior height of six feet tall, and with a considerable amount of strength for her age and gender, Raze accosted both siblings and proceeded to raise her eyebrow at them in silence.

Cass yelled in her older twin brother Caspian's ear when he stumbled down, still in his pyjamas. His very overgrown hair would have matched Cass' exactly, if it weren't fluffed out to about three and a half times its normal size in a record-breaking bed-head. Gale, who had been quietly reading a book (completely oblivious to the chaos occurring around him, of course), was suddenly smacked across the back of the head. Cass towered over him, looking absolutely thunderous. Gale looked up at her, completely confused. Aerin watched, and was suspicious. Where was...

_BOOM!_

"Alright. That is it!" she growled. "STOP THIS INSTANT!"

Everyone stopped. Even Cameron had the decency to poke his head into the room, face blackened beyond recognition with soot.

"Clean!" She shouted. The errant siblings were dragged into a line, and neatened by the use of long-practised household magic. The evidence of their hellish cavorting was left un-erased, and Aerin propped her hands on her hips. Jake and Tor flanked her, followed by Cass, Raze and Phoenix.

"Alright. That's better."

The front door opened, and their parents filed through, chatting amiably and obliviously. Sky and Bloom, Jake's parents, were discussing something political, while Tor's parents Flora and Helia snuggled contentedly. Stella, Raze's mother, breezed through the door in an entirely new outfit, as her father, Brandon, trailed behind with shopping bags in both hands. Musa and Riven, Pheonix's parents, were locked in and intense shouting match, _again_, while the Andros twins' parents Layla and Nabu held hands and gazed most distractedly at each other. Aerin's mom and dad, Tecna and Timmy, brought up the rear, absorbed in whatever gadget was currently in their hands.

They promptly turned around and looked accusingly at their parents.

Bloom and Stella looked up, and noticed the accusing look their eldest children were giving them.

"What?" Bloom asked, completely oblivious.

The accusing looks intensified into a glare.

"What?" Bloom asked again, beyond befuzzled. Jake pursed her lips and patted Ambrose absently on the shoulder. He still looked to be on the verge of a mental breakdown, and Gale made a face, gently herding him into the kitchen for some comfort food. Alethea was still being held aloft when Stella finally noticed the in what sort of position her three children were in. Kazul made a face, flailing, and Raze glared at him. He gulped and desisted.

Aerin seized Cameron by the ear, hissing a cleaning spell. The soot vanished in a puff of smoke from Cameron's face, glasses, and dark magenta hair. Suitably unimpressed, Cameron muttered something back. He seemed to be in a state of indignation: of course, being seized by the ear by your sister was _not_ worthy of a valedictorian-graduating AP student, much less the fabled Cameron of Zenith, who was awarded scholarships not only to Red Fountain, but to Fantagor Academy, Southsummer Military Institute, Antarion College and Blackholt Academy.

Aerin kicked him. He yowled.

She turned and stared at her parents, who were so far happily unacquainted with the issue at hand.

"Mom, Dad," she said impatiently. Said parents looked up, and were met with a scene of abject destruction.

In the middle of the foyer of their spacious abode, a mangled metal chandelier lay in a heap on the floor. Egg was splattered across the left walls and toilet paper was wound over and around the bannisters of the sweeping grand staircase. There were smashed terracotta pots around the foot of the stairs, and multicoloured balloons were scattered on the floor. A feminine hygiene product seemed to be stuck in one of the many scattered pairs of shoes, and pancakes and omelettes of assorted description plastered the ceiling in an aromatic coating of starch and protein. An inflatable pool full of orange cordial had been upended across the floor, and an almighty stench arose from the pile of orange-cordial-soaked tinned sardines lined up in and enormous heart shape in the left back corner of the foyer. Aerin snapped her fingers, and a vaguely recognisable shaped popped into existence in front of her. Timmy positively screeched.

Well, considering that his levabike had been reduced to a mangled smoking wreck, that was one of his milder reactions.

"Oh, my Dragon," Tecna gasped. Aerin raised and eyebrow.

"Now," she said, "If we're leaving for Alfea in a week, then _you people_-", (she gestured expressively), "- need to seriously get to work on controlling _these_ hooligans."

"Think of all the trouble Red Fountain is going to get when Cammie-chon, Zul-zul and Rosie hit the intake," Phoenix said to Raze. Raze sniggered and a wailing sob errupted from the kitchen.

"Don't call me Rosie!" Ambrose shrieked tearfully. Phoenix looked alarmed and hid behind the six-foot-tall blonde. Raze continued to snigger into her hand. Cameron narrowed his eyes in a death squint at Phoenix, glasses flashing ominously as Gale's muttered reassurances filtered into the room over the sound of Ambrose's sobbing. Phoenix melted into a fangirling puddle of mush and proceeded to pinch the hell out of his cheeks.

* * *

><p>"Wow. I knew Tor had propensities for lateness, but she sure is-"<p>

A shadow passed over them, and Jake shielded her eyes with her arm. Down-drafts buffeted the five second generation guardians. A dragon, a pure-bred Pyros split-tail racer by the looks of it, touched down in the quad. Phoenix and Raze swore incredulously. Jumping off the dragon from behind a supposed Red Fountain boy was Tor, her dark hair loose. The boy jumped off and hauled her suitcase down.

"Thanks, Jehan!" she called, lifting out the handle and dragging the suitcase over to where Cass and Jake were standing. Other fairies on the intake whispered and giggled, eyes wide with shock, or maidenly shyness.

"Is that- Jehan Caitlis?" one of them mumbled, "The dragon racer _Jehan Caitlis_?"

Jehan followed the Linphean princess over. His dark hair was messy and his teeth flashed white against skin the colour of brown sugar.

"Again, thanks, Jehan. I'll call you when I'm free for racing, okay?" Tor grinned, running her hand through her hair. Jehan grinned and pulled her into a manly one-armed hug. He thoroughly messed up her hair.

"See ya, princess," he teased, walking back and remounting his dragon. It screeched and took off, nearly blowing the Alfea girls to the ground.

Other freshmen crowded around Tor and the others, bombarding them with questions.

"How do you know Jehan Caitlis?"

"Isn't he _so_ dreamy?"

"Can I get his number-"

"Ladies, ladies, calm down." Tor smirked. "I know Jehan from my brother Tyler who knows Caspian of Andros who knows Ambrose of Sparx who knows Griffin the totally hot albino who knows Heath whose cousin is Drake of Elusiva who challenged Jehan Caitlis in last year's Interdimensional Dragon Cup."

"How many RF boys do you know, anyway?" Cass asked. She shook her head. Tor really was one of the boys. She was rough and ready, and kick-ass at all times.

"Well, there's obviously Jehan, and Ambrose, Cameron, Kazul, Tyler, Caspian, Raziel, Griffin the smoking hot albino (not the Cloud Tower principal), Heath, Drake, Caleb, Mattin, Tanner, Hayden, Sage, Kaien, Winter, Brendan, Alec, Alastair, Marco, Nick... do you want to know any more?"

"Are any of them into you?" a freshman stranger whispered excitedly.

"Can you introduce me?"

"Alas, no," Tor said. "My schedule's tight, but Kaien is totally into you, Jake."

"Liar," she said flatly.

"Aw, come on. Please tell me you've noticed how he looks at you?"

"No," Jake deadpanned.

Cass tugged on their sleeves. "Come on. Ol' Grizzle is looking at us pointedly."

They dragged themselves over to where Griselda was. She clutched her clipboard, looking suspiciously at the freckled, blue eyed redhead in front of her. Her style- red and black plaid shirt, white tank top, denim shorts and Converses- was very different from her mother's, but there was the same spark of defiance in her eyes. Her expression was very bored. From the look of her, Griselda didn't trust her, not one bit.

"Name, please," she said.

"Jacelya of Eraklyon. Call me Jake." Griselda peered at the sheet before her and found the name. _Princess Jacelya of Eraklyon_- present.

The next girl in line was a dirty blonde with hazel eyes. She was inordinately tall, and her hair looked as if it had been cut in the dark. Her legs were tanned, bruised and scraped. She had little to no resemblance to her mother's chatterbox tendencies. There was a mocking, taunting look in her eyes that begged to be reprimanded.

"Raze of Solaria," she said. Griselda looked down, and sniffed.

"Try again," she snapped.

Raze sighed. "Arazelia Calasynth Celalune of Solaria."

Griselda ticked off and waved her through.

The girl who had arrived on dragon-back with the famous dragon rider was significantly more tan than the others, with dark brown hair and eyes to match. There was a streak of dirt on her face. She pushed the sleeves of her leather jacket up, and the white shirt beneath it had an entirely offensive slogan printed across her considerable assets. It read, 'Stop staring at my tits'.

"Name please," Griselda said, snippish. "And remove that offensive garment immediately."

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, faking a shocked expression. "Are you asking me to strip in public?"

Griselda sighed, beyond frustrated. "Name, please."

"Lutoria of Linphea," she smirked, breezing through. Griselda's mouth twisted. That girl would be hard to handle, she knew it already.

The next girl had a shirt of some Earth band, and she carried a guitar case. Earphones were hung around her neck, trapping some of her pitch black hair. A polaroid camera hung around her neck. She looked like a very upbeat, cheerful, cute-and-innocent-face rebel. Griselda just knew that she'd be trouble. The girl smiled crookedly.

"Phoenix of Melody," she said. Griselda waved her through.

The next girl had barely controlled dark brown corkscrew curls fanned around her head, with a floppy wavy fringe covering one eye. She looked somewhat respectable, as a princess of Andros. Her somewhat outlandish attire consisted of a rainbow tie-dye wifebeater and distressed, much-patched boyfriend capris. Again, Griselda felt her eyebrows rising at just how _zaftig_ the girl was. Most years, at least some of the incoming freshmen were still stuffing their A-cups with socks. The heir apparent to Andros and Tides was nothing of the sort.

"Cassia of Andros and Tides," she enunciated. She strode through confidently, hips swaying lazily, and waved the last girl through.

She was neat, with a slick caramel ponytail and a purple halter top and dark denim jeans. One hand was occupied by a palmtop minicomputer with a levitating flip-out typepad and a revolving signal receiver. The other was simultaneously operating a levitating swivel-mouse at light speed.

"Aerin of Zenith," she said, calmly and collectedly. Griselda sighed and marked her name off, noting the scholarship student notation next to her name. At least one of the Guardians' descendants was hard working and bore a semblance of sanity.

* * *

><p>"Picture it- Jehan Caitlis on the left, Ambrose on the right, me in the middle with circle contacts and puffed out cheeks. Would they make good ulzzangs?" Phoenix asked.<p>

"No," Jake responded flatly. "You should try Raziel though. Even though he's got the Asian Earth look through and through, he did go strawberry blonde over summer break."

"Circle contacts, a little 'shopping and bam! Ulzzang," Raze added, nodding in approval.

"Oh dear," Cass sighed, smiling ever so slightly, "Imagine if poor young Raziel were to hear of this unspeakable thing."

"Raziel is just adorable," Tor agreed, "in a little boy in a big boy's body kind of way. In, like, a really freakin' _hot_ body."

They giggled all together, but for Aerin and Jake. Jake was blank-faced, while Aerin looked annoyed.

"Honestly, all you people think about is boys, boys, boys," she muttered darkly.

They arrived into their dorm, which was sickeningly pink and presumably the old Winx dorm. Phoenix and Raze roomed together, predictably. Tor and Jake were buddies, and Cass and Aerin elected to be room-mates. Cass was the most qualified to deal with Aerin's quick temper and exacting standards, while Jake and Tor could be antisocial slobs together. Abjectly disgusted, Tor and Raze waved their hands and the walls flashed black before changing into colour. Tor and Jake's room was red with pale blue and white cupboards. There were two desks, two beds and two dressers. Beanbags and floor pillows were scattered on the black painted wood floor, and a neon light sculpture stretched across the wall above the two beds.

Raze and Phoenix's room was yellow, green and blue, and had a huge fake-grass carpet marked with white lines, imitating a football pitch. Again, there were two yellow bed with matching shelves above them, and a yellow desk each with blue fronted drawers. Cass and Aerin's room was white and natural wood themed, with natural wood desks and beds and white shelving. A huge stainless steel clock was perched above Aerin's bed, and the beds were covered in dark blue linen.

Once their stuff was dumped, they followed the school tour under Ms. Faragonda's directive. Mostly, the six Winx-daughters slacked off in the back. Aerin, well, she was a different matter. She took _notes._

Once the tour ended, they were dismissed. Phoenix, Raze and Tor all immediately called for Magix; Jake agreed, and Cass was mellow as always. Aerin balked and spluttered.

"Come on, 'Rin," Phoenix wheedled, "let your hair down, once in a while."

Aerin could not object.

* * *

><p>Phoenix moaned in pleasure as she sucked on her large mango bubble tea, with grape jelly and pearls, regular sugar, no ice.<p>

Jake rolled her eyes at Phoenix's over-exaggerated reaction. In one hand was a small plastic bag with a couple of Neverending Sushi Train albums, and that new Dark Violets release. The Friday And The Stump CD would go to Ambrose. Tor had the same Dark Violets CD, but the similarities ended there. Tor listened to seriously weird stuff, like Subtle View, Clueless Pariah, Fading Unwritten- scary stuff indeed. Raze had indulged herself, with a new pair of cherry-print gym boots and a couple of loose midriff tee shirts. Cass had been counting her coins and decided that a strawberry smoothie was in order, while Aerin had snagged some books on the cheap. Phoenix, taking a break from slurping tea, continued to natter on and on about stuff, any stuff, random stuff. She even had the circle contacts to prove that she really was going through an ulzzang phase.

"Let's go to that coffee shop!" Aerin said, pointing at a quaint little shop with a big glass window. The scalloped awning was cream and mocha-coloured. The girls cheered and streamed in in a long, multicoloured parade. Raze, of course, wanted a mocha chiller with whipped cream. Tor was all for a long black, while the others wanted iced chocolates. Phoenix and Cass decided to bypass the coffee; their drinks still weren't finished. They put their orders to a very harassed-looking lady behind the counter.

"Omnomnomnom," Raze mumbled into her straw.

"We should do this more-"

A tail slammed into the shop window next to them. Their first instinct was a shout/yell/scream/swear loudly. Then, they dropped their bags. Raze formed a bubble shield over their stuff. An arm tore the awning in two, topped with a huge, bulbous pincer. Tor yelled as another pincer snapped shut over her head. She ducked instinctively. Citizens screamed, running every which way. Six Specialists, first or second years by the look of it, dodged and ducked, weapons out.

"Get out of the way!" someone shouted.

"Kaien?" Phoenix screamed.

Kaien blocked a converging set of pincers with his red phantoblade. He grunted as the pincers forced him down to his knees.

"Oh, bloody hell!" he swore loudly, sweat and matted black hair falling into his eyes. Jake fumbled in her backpack, swearing softly until she grabbed her desired weapon.

"Yes!" she shouted, whipping out a phantoblade. It was a slim, sky-blue rapier, which she promptly swung, cutting the pincers off their arms.

That was when they finally got a good look at the bloody huge thing that was causing a crap-load of trouble. It had seven heads with no necks, and four arms protruding right off its chest. There were five arms coming off its back, and its tail bore a heavy, bulbous club on its end. The tail whipped around and slammed an unfamiliar Specialist into a wall. There was a crack as he hit the wall, and blood streamed down his face. Aerin instinctively set up a shield.

"Aish, you gotta be kidding me! Winter! Answer me! Oh, for-"

"Raziel?" Raze cried. "What the hell is going on?"

"Can't talk, just help!" he shouted. An arm lashed out, knocking him down. He skidded across the asphalt, ripping up his uniform. He looked up, straight into the sun. Raziel cried out, momentarily blinded. The monster went in for a killing strike; laser strings held it back.

"Tyler!" Tor's brother pulled back, reeling the laser strings in. The monster roared.

"Tor, transform!"

"Winx!"

There was a momentarily blinding flash of light, before the girls arranged themselves in a wide arc. Raziel and Kaien had their phantoblades out, while Tyler was struggling with the surging monster.

"Ack!" Jake screeched, covering her bare midriff. The ruby red midriff halter and short-shorts were not her taste at all.

"No screech just fight!" Tor shouted, focusing her energy. Metal ripped up and out of their surroundings; electrical cables wrapped around the monster's snapping mouths and pincers.

"Hurry up!" Tor shouted, hands glowing with silver energy, "I can't hold it for long!"

"Blast it!" Phoenix shouted, hurling a ball of crackling electricity at the thrashing monster. It weaved around wildly, before crashing into the monster. The monster roared, throwing Tyler by the force of its exertions. He flew into the air-

-and was promptly caught by Jehan Caitlis doing a barrel roll on his split-tail. Cass hit the ground, rolling and slamming her fist into the floor. A fissure opened beneath the monster, and hands of rock and earth reached up to grab hold of it. The rock hands shook the monster, while Aerin wrestled with its tail, trying to keep it away from the unconscious Specialist that she was shielding.

"Your phantoblade!" she shouted to Jake, struggling to pin the Monster's trail.

"Where is everyone!" Raziel shouted. A figure jumped off the roof, yelling and brandishing a phantoblade. They struck the monster feet first, slicing a head off very neatly. Jake struck, and a spray of muddy grey-green gore spurted from the monster's severed head.

"Duck!" she shouted. The boy ducked; she swung and a pincer fell to the ground between them.

Cass shouted, and the earthen hands tightened around the shrieking monster. Raze threw a ball of light. It swerved wildly. Aerin lost control of the monster's tail, and it slammed her into a wall.

"Iron claw!" Tor shouted. The monster screamed; its tail dripped gore as it fell to the ground. Raziel hacked at the monster with his white phantoblade as Jehan's dragon swooped. Tyler shot his laser strings. They pulled taut as the dragon strained upward.

"Cover me!" Jake shouted, swinging her phantoblade.

"Silver screen," Tor shouted.

"Antivirus!" Aerin screeched.

"Nebula," Raze grunted, struggling with one of the monster's arms.

Jake focused on her phantoblade.

"_Dragon fire_!" she shouted, running at the monster full pelt. She jumped and plunged her flaming blade into the monster's chest.

The monster screamed and exploded in grey-green slime.

The fairies and Specialists hit the wall in the now deserted street, splattered with gore and slime.

"Eurgh..." Aerin mumbled, rubbing her head.

"My stuff!" Tor shouted, jumping up from the mess of slush.

"Hush, you," Raze said, hauling Kaien to his feet. Raziel retracted his phantoblade and offered Jake a hand. The bubble shield Raze had put up was still in place. Tor sighed in relief. Jehan landed on a rooftop, and Tyler dismounted swiftly. Phoenix and Cass helped each other up.

"Report," Tyler shouted.

"Here," Kaien croaked, "but Winter's out. We should call backup."

"Reporting," Raziel called.

"Fine," Jehan called, dragging the last of the boys to his feet.

"Caspian, reporting," he said. "Not great, but I'll manage."

"What on Magix happened here?" The boys flinched visibly. Codatorta looked at them with absolute fury etched over his face.

"Sir," they mumbled sheepishly, lining up.

"They're screwed. Totally screwed," Jake mumbled. Aerin snapped her fingers, and she reverted back to her regular clothes. Another snap of her fingers worked one of her most hardcore cleaning spells. The street was restored to its previous state of cleanliness. The damage, on the other hand, was beyond Aerin's capabilities.

Three Red Fountain aircrafts hovered above as Magix police closed off the area. The boy who had been slammed into the wall was flown away, and the rest of the Specialists waved at the girls as they filed into an aircraft. The last opened its entry hatch, and the girls balked. Griselda _and_ Faragonda looked at them expectantly, hands on hips.

"Oh, dear," Tor mumbled.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi. I'm Jacelya of Eraklyon and I've been forced into this. Kudos Phoenix, you ass.<strong>

**Nickname: **Jake, Jakey, Jace (but that's reserved for special people only. No, Tor, Tyler, you don't count).

**Favourite Food: **Agedashi tofu. Yum ~

**Favourite Colour: **Red of all shades.

**Favourite Hobby: **Gaming, especially Age of Empires and World of Warcraft.

**Favourite Pet: **Is a temperamental griffin considered to be a pet? Still, I loves meh griffin. Even if he does bite me too much.

**Ideal Boyfriend: **Who would notice a flat-chested fire-top like me? Still, don't tell anyone, but I kind of like Kaien. X3 Hah, no, I kid, I kid you muchly.

**Best Friends: **Lutoria of Linphea and Phoenix of Melody. Hey, girls :)

**Favourite Movies: **Blood, gore and action, like Indiana Jones and James Bond. And Terminator.

**Loves: **Gaming and slacking off, feeling like one of the boys.

**Hates:** Petticoats and stays. Ugh. Bane of my existence, I swear.

**Favourite Music: **Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang :) Neverending Sushi Train, indie rock, old Hollywood music.

**Favourite Shoes: **Skechers and Converse. Ultimate in tomboy comfort.

**Favourite Subject: **… Can I think about this? I guess I have to pick Defence or Magical Creatures.

**Favourite Spell: **Firestorm ;D Woohoo!

**Catchphrase: **I need coffee.


	2. Chapter 2

**2: Kappas Don't Dance (Not The Waltz Nor The Tango)**

"Young ladies, your attention please," Ms. Faragonda instructed.

Tor looked up, a piece of toast still dangling from her mouth.

"As is the tradition of Alfea School, we will be holding the annual welcoming ceremony for new students tonight, with a ball. The students of Red Fountain School will also be attending, for the ceremony of exchanging gifts."

Griselda cleared her throat. "As you will be required to assist with the preparations, all classes today have been cancelled."

The breakfast hall erupted in cheers.

"BLUDGE DAY!" Phoenix cheered, leaning backwards and falling off the bench. She squawked and rubbed the back of her head, wincing. Cass offered her a hand a pulled her up, back onto the bench. Tor rolled her eyes and continued to eat her toast. Aerin looked at the departing headmistress with one eyebrow raised, over one of her numerous programming textbooks. Jake shrugged and shoved another forkful of egg-bacon-hashbrown-sausage mush into her mouth, mumbling unintelligibly.

"Don't, Jake," Cass said, not even looking up.

"Wha...?"

"Don't speak with food in your mouth."

Jake rolled her eyes, and swallowed. "It's not like you never do it too..."

Cass snorted and looked down her nose at Jake. "Yeah, but you're a barbarian. I'm a _refined_ barbarian. It's different."

"How different? It's like sugar- don't matter if it's brown or white, they're both sweet, aren't they?"

"Jake," Tor said patiently, "Save it for Philosophy class. We don't need the spouting of allegorical whatever at the moment."

"Yeah, whoever heard of a sweet barbarian?" Phoenix shuddered. "If I licked you, would you be sweet?"

Aerin hit Phoenix over the head.

"Ow!" she whined, pouting. "What was that for?"

"For being totally, utterly, unreservedly, and abjectly," Aerin took a breath, "_wrong_."

* * *

><p>"I'm just saying, if things don't work out with you and Jehan, I call dibs," Raze drawled, staring at her newly painted toes. She was lying flat on her back with her feet in the air. Tor rolled her eyes.<p>

"It's strictly a friends relationship. Completely platonic," Tor said, a hint of a smile in her voice. She was draped across a bed, completely exhausted from the decorating and preparing for the ball.

"Believe her," Cass said, snapping another picture of Phoenix in circle contacts. Phoenix made a cute face, sticking out her tongue and doing the two finger peace sign.

"Argh!" Aerin shouted, storming out of Jake's bedroom. Jake stared out blankly, sucking on a lollipop and fingering an Xbox controller.

"Tell that, that _barbarian_," Aerin fumed, pointing at Jake, "that it is completely unacceptable to be wearing jeans to the Alfea-Red Fountain Freshman Ball!"

"Wow," Cass said, "You've just hit an all time low."

"You know what this calls for?" Phoenix said. "Shopping!"

"That sound good," Raze agreed. Tor gave a thumbs up.

"I don't have a dress yet so that sounds pretty good," Tor said. Phoenix took out her circle contacts and placed them back in their case. She decided against that and replaced them.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

* * *

><p>"It's gorgeous," Phoenix gushed.<p>

"Oh, my," Cass said. "It's glorious, Jake."

"I feel exposed," Jake muttered, red in the face. The dress she wore was strapless and pale blue with a ruched bodice. The full, flowing skirt was made of white tulle and whispered elegantly whenever she moved.

"What do you think, guys?" Tor asked, emerging from the change room in an emerald green taffeta ballgown. The dress showed skin through its corset-laced back.

"Thumbs up," Jake mumbled morosely. "But I can't wear this- I feel like a, a, a slut."

"No way, Jake," Aerin admonished. "You're not getting out of this one!"

"Buy that dress," Raze added. "Do it for Kaien."

"He's _not interested_," Jake insisted. Tor smirked knowingly as she emerged again, in her pre-ventilated jeans and white shirt. Using both arms to support the bulk of the dress, she took it to the counter.

Phoenix shoved Jake back into the change room.

"Hurry, guys. We have loads more stores to hit," she said, jumping up and down.

"Hey!"

Jake squeaked, nearly jumping. Her hold on her bag grew firmer as Raziel, Jehan and his friends crossed the road.

"Jehan!" Tor called, grinning. Jehan growled playfully, and gave her a noogie. Tyler laughed as Tor flailed and fought to escape his hold.

"Let go, you incorrigible piece of beeping bleepity-face!" she shouted, shoving Jehan off her. Jehan was doubled over in laughter.

"I don't think we introduced ourselves properly last time," Raziel said, elbowing Jehan hard. Tyler wiped laugh-tears away from his face.

"Obivously you guys already know me'n Caspian," Tyler choked out between chuckles.

"Jake's our gaming buddy," Kaien grinned, messing up her hair.

"But I only know Cass, and Jakey, and Tor and Raze," Raziel pouted. "Introduce me?"

"Phoenix, Aerin, this is Raziel," Jake said flatly. "Vice versa, etcetera, so on and so forth."

"Okay, so you guys are all in a squadron? Jehan, Kaien, Caspian, Tyler and Raziel-"

"Don't forget me," the boy behind them mumbled. His arm was in a cast.

"Wow. That must really suck," Raze said, running one finger down the cast. The guy grinned and ran a hand through his red hair.

"I'm Winter," he said. He grinned.

Phoenix tapped Raziel on the shoulder, "Um, hi!"

"Hi, yourself," he said, smiling slightly. Phoenix's eyes widened.

"Wow," she breathed. "You have really big eyes."

He looked away, fidgeting. It was the first time that a girl had noticed his _eyes_. He felt his cheeks heating up. It was actually the first time a girl had noticed him at all. Had something changed this year?

"Um," she said, shifting uncomfortably. "Can I take your picture?"

"Huh?" She held up a polaroid camera, rounded out white model. Before he could do anything, she had pulled him close and snapped a picture of the two of them. Later, Phoenix would remember the time they met with fondness; she would see him shyly looking up and blushing in the little polaroid square while she smiled.

"Phoenix!" Raze shouted. "Take a picture!"

They all crowded in, and Phoenix called on an innocent bystander to take the photo of them.

The boys recommended a pizza parlor; they nearly at the place out of house and home with their appetites. Tor and Raze challenged each other to an eating match, and contended fiercely as Jehan and Winter cheered them on. Raziel's awkward feelings didn't disappear as the afternoon wore on. Phoenix seemed to be just fine around him, but he needed a bit more time to get used to so many girls. He shook his head. He knew going to an all boys junior high with no sister school would be bad for his social skills.

Tyler and Caspian were annoying all along; Winter and Raze hit it off immediately. Jehan seemed to be into Tor. Kaien was being a nerd, as usual. His nose was buried in a book. Jake read from over his shoulder as she mechanically took bites out of a pepperoni pizza. They seemed fine. Then again, Tyler and Caspian both had sisters who had friends; Jehan was famous and had fangirls. Kaien was a clueless dreamer. It was simple, really.

"Ack!" Aerin shouted, "I've got no shoes!"

This sent the girls into various levels of panic. They decided that they needed to leave immediately.

"Bye, boys, see ya tonight!" Phoenix called as they walked down the street, away from the Red Fountain boys. Jehan nudged Raziel.

"You're really into Phoenix, aren't you," he said. Raziel stammered and blushed. Jehan just smirked and nudged him, wiggling his eyebrows. Tyler sighed happily.

"Raziel is finally growing up, guys," he announced. The guys laughed.

* * *

><p>Phoenix walked down the stairs, heels dangling from one hand. The marble floor was cool and soothing against her aching feet. There was a reason that she didn't wear heels all the time. She padded soundlessly through the silent halls of Alfea, making her way to the party. Her dress, a scarlet silk creation, was partially covered by a practical black shawl. Her hair, loose and brushed until it was like a shining river of black satin, tickled her back and neck.<p>

She heard voices. Phoenix was puzzled. Why would anyone be back here, apart from her taking a shortcut? She ducked behind a pillar, cursing the width of her skirt. There were three figures, one with bluish-white hair in a high ponytail. The one on the left had long brown hair with lighter bangs. They chanted softly as the last figure growled. They clenched their fists, frizzy hair crackling with lightning.

"There. That should do the trick."

"Are you sure? We don't want some freshmen to reverse this one, like what happened..."

"I'm sure. Alfea, prepare for the kappas."

"They won't be coming back from this one so easily."

the frizzy haired one cackled quietly. "Ha! The New Trix are in business."

"Shut up, you idiot! Don't take any chances!"

The one with the brown hair emitted a pulse of purple light.

"Frost, I sense a pixie nearby," she purred. Phoenix held her breath. It was getting cold, really cold. She tried to run. Why couldn't she move? She bit her lip, trying to struggle free. The feeling of cold travelled up her legs, up her arms...She jerked, but bands of ice crawled over her body, trapping her. She opened her mouth, but a cold hand silenced her. It was so, so cold. A voice, dripping with malice, whispered in her ear.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

* * *

><p>"Have you seen a freshman girl, black hair, violet eyes, this tall?" Raze asked. The group of Red Fountain boys shook their heads. Jehan tilted his head to the side. Tor tapped Tyler on the shoulder.<br>"Have you seen Phoenix? She came down here before us, and we haven't seen her since."

"No, we thought she was with you girls," Tyler replied. "Raziel here, he's been waiting an awful long time."

"Can I ask a favour?" she muttered. "I have this bad feeling that she's in trouble. Can you come look with us?"

"Alright," Caspian said. "Where should we look?"

The girls regrouped and dragged the boys into the corridor. Jake steeled herself and squared her shoulders.

"Alright. Kaien, Aerin, cover the east wing. Winter, Cass and Raze will take the south wing, and Jehan, Caspian and Tor will take the west wing. Raziel, Tyler and me will cover the corridors and shortcuts," Jake directed. "Let's go!"

Kaien, Aerin and Tyler ran in the direction of the east wing. The others ran out, calling for Phoenix. Jake grabbed Raziel and marched him in the other direction.

"It's this way to our dorms. We'll try the nooks, crannies and shortcuts first," she said.

"Maybe she wanted to take a peek at the gifts before they came out," Raziel suggested. Jake frowned.

"That's not like her," Jake and Tyler said at the same time. Raziel fidgeted. Jake frowned even more.

"Let's go, Raziel," she said. They walked down the corridor. Jake shivered, pulling her pretty Victorian-style mantle closer around her shoulders. Tyler looked around suspiciously.

"It's cold," Raziel said. The words came out in curling puffs of vapour. Moonlight streamed through the frosted windows. Raziel trailed a finger through the condensation on the window. Jake poked on of the ice flowers in the corner of the window. Tyler shivered, and removed his cloak to drape it over Jake. She seemed startled.

"Duty of care," he responded. "Tor would kill me if you froze."

"What is this?" she hissed, poking at the frost crystals on the floor. Jake was shivering violently. The pale glow of the moon lent an eerie cast to the scene. Raziel rounded the corner-

"Phoenix!" Jake shouted, kicking off her heels and running barefoot to her friend. She held her hands out, letting the Dragon flame form around them. Rivulets of water dripped onto the floor; the icy manacles that held the dark haired girl thinned and broke all together. Phoenix's eyes were closed, and she shivered weakly. She was pale, almost white; Raziel caught her as she sagged to the floor.

"Damnit, damnit, damnit," Jake swore, passing her flaming hands over Phoenix's face and arms. Her dress was damp with meltwater, and heavy. Raziel grunted, swinging her into his arms. Jake looked at Tyler, worry clear on her face.

"Raziel? Jake?" Phoenix whispered, eyelids fluttering.

"Phoenix? Phoenix," Jake said. "Phoenix, who did this? I swear, I'mma rip them to shreds-"

Phoenix lifted her hand, her shaking finger pointed at the empty alcove where the chest of presents were.

"New Trix," she whispered, "curses."

"What kinds of curses?" Tyler urged. Jake swore softly. Phoenix's eyes were sagging shut.

"Come on, come on," she hissed.

"Kappas," she whispered. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and her head fell against Raziel's chest.

"_Kappas_?" Tyler said incredulously, "Oh, dear Dragon..."

"Go get the others! We have to stall for time!"

Tyler pulled a slim metal rectangle out of his hidden pocket, throwing it to the ground. It unfolded and lifted into the air, forming a slim pocket hoverboard. He jumped onto it and leaned forward, sending it and himself hurtling down the corridor.

"Come on, Raziel!" Jake said, hiking up her skirts and running out of the hallway. "She needs more help than I can give her."

"_Kappas_?" Raze squeaked. Tyler nodded breathlessly as tor and Raze ran in, followed by the rest of the others.

"The chest!" Tor shouted, pointing at the golden box that two Red Fountain boys were carrying. An escort of four surrounded them.

"Stop right there!" Winter shouted, waving his good arm wildly. Caspian planted himself firmly in their path.

"Hand over the box," he ordered. The boys with the box balked, but steeled themselves.

"Why should we?" one of them challenged.

"Look, the eggs in that box are cursed," Jehan stated, with an excess of forcefulness.

"As if," the other retorted. Tyler pointed at the girls.

"Stall," he gasped. "They need some convincing."

The girls ran into the ballroom, flinging the doors open wide. Both boys and girls stared at them oddly.

"Stall," Aerin whispered, eyes widening.

"Oh, dear," Cass said, alarmed.

"I don't like the look of this," Tor said, biting her lip.

"Stage, guys. It's the only way we can stall," Aerin insisted. The girls ran onto the stage as the spotlight swung onto them. Aerin clicked her fingers, and instruments appeared in their hands. Cass gasped as she was dumped onto the stool behind a drum kit.

"Hi guys!" Aerin said, forcing cheerfulness. "We have a little unscheduled entertainment!"  
>The crowd murmured and whispered, looking up at them expectantly. Griselda marched toward the stage, looking furious; Jake quietly entered and grabbed hold of her arm. She whispered urgently in the teacher's ear. Tor fingered her shiny black bass, while Raze and Aerin clutched at their guitars.<p>

Griselda marched over to Faragonda, and Tor continued.

"We'll be singing, uh," Tor announced, fumbling for a song they all knew, "Until My Last Breath."

Aerin snapped her fingers, and the rest of the backing track played out.

_Cannot cry it loud enough  
>I'm giving up this ghost<br>How can I still justify  
>When you deny my voice<br>In this nothing I am not allowed  
>I just follow alone<br>Words as weapons without a sound  
>Echoes dying unborn<em>

_Until my last breath_  
><em>You'll never know<em>  
><em>Until you feel the silence<em>  
><em>When I am gone<em>  
><em>Now is vanishing<em>  
><em>Everything<em>  
><em>What we might have been<em>  
><em>Only now you praise<em>  
><em>Call my name that you won't see again<em>

The doors opened again, and the six Specialists escorting the gifts entered, looking slightly battered. Tyler and Caspian struggled after them, striped with bruises, while Jehan shouted at them. Winter leaned in the doorframe, looking tired. A bruise was rapidly purpling the left side of his face; Kaien still had a telescopic bo staff in one hand. Codatorta was bristling and seemed fit to burst as he marched over and seized Tyler by the collar. Tyler's eyes widened, and his mouth moved rapidly; he gesticulated violently, stabbing a finger at the box.

The boys set the golden box on the ground and unlocked it. The girls were obviously more interested in the gifts than in them. Aerin's eyes widened, and she lost the tune. Tor ripped off her bass, Cass' drumsticks fell to the stage with a clatter.

"STOP!" Raze shouted, but she was ignored, save for a glare or two. The eggs moved fast, hastened by the girls' anticipation.

An egg passed into one of their classmate's hands. She twisted it-

In a vortex of black particles, a kappa formed, knocking her to the ground as murky pond water splashed over her, ruining her gown. The kappa's gnarled, webbed hands clutched at the girl's hair as its beak snapped close to her face. Its wrinkled, sagging green-brown skin melded into a shell that looked as it if were made of fouled potion mixed with faeces. Its head bore a crater that looked like the remains of an exploded boil. The kappa's slit-pupiled eyes gleamed with intelligent malice.

And then came the screaming. The kappa croaked and swiftly turned around, affixing its frog-like rear end to the girl's arm. Her eyes widened, and she screamed as the vampiric demon fed on her, through its _anus_. The hall erupted into chaos. Teachers and Specialists wrestled with kappa demons as some of the girls fought to fend them off. Aerin set up numerous small bubble shields as Tor called on the cutlery. She grabbed two of the carving knives and whirled in an arc. Her knives bit into two of the kappas leaping at her and she fought her way over to Tyler. The twins backed up against each other and grinned nastily.

Raziel appeared in the doorway, holding a limp Phoenix in his arms. His eyes widened, and he quickly backed away. A kappa launched itself off the girl it was feeding on, aiming for the prone Phoenix. Raziel turned, shielding her with his body; Caspian cut the demon down in mid-air. Kaien smashed one onto the wall and Jake scorched the top of one's head. Wizgiz jumped around the room as Griselda and Palladium blasted the creatures every which way. The floor quickly became soaked with kappa and human blood.

Raze screamed at Raziel to get out of the way and he ducked to the side just as she blasted a clutch of kappas who had the superior mental presence to sneak up from behind. Aerin tore a swathe out of the advancing beasts as she arced a barely-controlled beam of power across the room, melting an ugly black gouge into the floor.

It seemed an eternity until the last kappa fell to the ground, limp as a ragdoll.

Raziel finally dared to enter, Phoenix leaning on his shoulder. His cloak covered her, but she looked exhausted. Tor walked up to them, gown soiled beyond recognition. In one hand was a carving knife, in the other a cleaver. Both were very, very dirty. Jake retracted her phantoblade. Tor looked around, at Raziel and Phoenix, and then at the kappa with the melted skull by her feet.

"Well, ain't this a pretty bucket of shit."

* * *

><p><strong>This is Tor of Linphea, signing in. Here's a little bit about me~<strong>

**Nickname: **Tor, Tori, Toria, but if you call me Lulu, you're effing dead. Except Dad. Dad's fine.

**Favourite Food: **Hot fudge sundae, spicy chicken wings, the steak of champions, manly man food like that, even though I'm pretty sure I'm female.

**Favourite Colour: **Black. Black goes with everything, and even if people do think you're a Satanist, wearing black makes you feel like all the darkness and softness of the night is wrapped around you, protective and comforting. Or it can make you feel different, like you don't give a shit 'cause what makes you happy makes you happy, and no-one can take that away.

**Favourite Hobby: **Hanging out, listening to music, dragon-racing with Jehan.

**Favourite Pet: **Dragons, dragons, more dragons. Jehan's split-tail racer Lupo is gorgeous. I mean, if it weren't a dragon, I'd be all over it.

**Ideal Boyfriend: **A comrade and a friend, who has a lot of history with me. Probably an incurable flirt, 'cause I like to flirt too. Someone sweet, but knows how to deal with me and my respect issues. I'm not looking for a Prince Charming, I'm looking for someone who challenges me on a daily basis, but will never lose sight of the fact that we both care.

**Best Friends: **Jake of Eraklyon, Cass of Tides and Jehan Caitlis.

**Favourite Movies: **Horror and thriller, especially when watching with a cute guy who is super huggable :)

**Loves: **My mom and dad, and even though Tasia is annoying, Tasia and Tyler.

**Hates:** When Tasia or Tyler barge into my room unannounced.

**Favourite Music: **Heavy metal, thrash metal, symphonic metal, yeah yeah! Dark Violets, Fading Unwritten, Subtle View, and that Earth band nightwish. The Escapist, oh, damn, that song is powerful. It resonates on a deeper level. Just magic.

**Favourite Shoes: **Combat boots, and those huge stompy platform boots that go to about thigh length and lace up with d-rings- ah, heavenly.

**Favourite Subject: **Defence and Tactics.

**Favourite Spell: **Anything that involves slicing and dicing them monsters.

**Catchphrase: **Well ain't that a pretty little bucket of shit.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, so now I 've given you guys two chapters. i know you're reading, so review! Ten reviews total and I'll update next Tuesday, my time. Less reviews equals later. So go and click that lonely button ;P**


	3. Chapter 3

**3: Never On Zenith Have Spacecraft Used Steam Engines**

"Holy bucket of kappa crap," Tor swore softly. She tugged on the cuffed hems of her khaki safari jumpsuit, then pulled on the collar. The safari-styled jumpsuit had sharp creases pressed down the front, and was impeccably ironed. Tor had immediately crushed the perfect ironing by sitting down carelessly and unbuttoning the top three buttons to reveal her black tank top. A printed cotton scarf was wound around her waist, accentuating her curves (Cass thought that they really didn't need the extra accentuating, but who was she to say anything?). Jake's blue long-sleeved shirt showed underneath the abominable garment, while Phoenix had forced a brightly printed t-shirt over the top. Cass had sighed at them, pinching the bridge of her nose as they struggled to alter the aesthetic of the bland uniform.

"I know," Raze said, looking over the Black Mud Swamp. Palladium sneezed and shrieked as an insect crawled over the toe of his boot.

"Damn, for a supposed Field Studies professor, Palladium sure is a pansy," Jake muttered.

"A real pansy," Raze agreed.

"This field exercise is designed to test your innate capability to listen to the voice of nature. Your task is to navigate your way through this swamp to the Crystal Clearing," Palladium instructed, still quivering. "But here's the catch. No magic is allowed!"

A lizard scurried around his feet, and Palladium shrieked, jumping a foot into the air. A dragonfly whizzed past his ear, and he yelped, flapping his hands as several birds and butterflies made movements of attack in his direction. Finally, he seemed to decide that he'd had enough. Palladium vanished in a poof of lemon-yellow smoke.

"Ack," Phoenix spluttered, waving her hand in front of her face. "Did that smell, or what?"

"Palladium sure needs to work on his perfume," Raze scoffed.

"Guys," Cass said, "let's move out."

"Soldiers, march!" Tor joked, with a mocking salutation.

* * *

><p>"Boys, we're trusting you with the transportation of this hunting troll," Codatorta said. His face was creased into a stern expression.<br>"If you bungle this mission, we might consider pulling you from active duty," Saladin admonished. Tyler groaned, until Winter clapped his good hand over the other boy's mouth.

"We seriously thought that you would be ready for a real mission," Codatorta said, "but with the situation in Magix...maybe you really aren't ready to be the first and youngest sophomore squad on active duty."

Jehan all but flew out of his chair. "We'll do it right this time, sir!"

"You'd better," Codatorta said. "Now, go!"

The squadron ran out of the office, hanging onto dignity by a thread.

"Damnit," Caspian swore, "Now our rep as the one and only_ first_ sophomore squad on duty is hanging! Us, S1! The freaking legendary S1!"

"I can't believe they're considering pulling us after one incident," Tyler grumbled. "One tiny incident!"

"The _tiny incident_ broke my arm," Winter muttered darkly, shooting a glare at his no doubt incompetent squad-mates. "Let's just go. It's just a transportation mission, no big."

Tyler shrugged, while Kaien pulled Winter into the hangar bay.

"What's the worst that can happen?"

"Nothing, apart from getting shot down."

Raziel shivered. There was something ominously prophetic about that joke.

* * *

><p>"Scatter!"<p>

Tor leapt to the bank, pulling Phoenix and Raze after her. The gas bubbles forming on the surface of the swamp were growing to an alarming size. Aerin shrieked, and Cass pulled her out of the swamp. Jake had already scrambled behind a hollow log. Tor leapt over said log and ducked behind it as Jake threw a branch into the bubbling mud.

Incidentally, of course, the bubbles of gas exploded in fireballs, setting off a chain reaction that scorched the trees and blackened the banks of the mud pond.

"_Incinerus gas_?" Aerin yelled. "Oh, come on!"

"Watch it, tech-head!" Jake shouted. "Whipping-vines!"

Tor ducked and grabbed one of the undulating vines, crying out when its barbs cut into her hands. Aerin tripped, and vines darted toward her. Jake pushed her out of the way, and the two girls tumbled and rolled. With a yelp, Phoenix dodged the attack of three oncoming vines, while Cass hopped madly to avoid the vines snaking beneath her feet.

"It's like Dance Dance Revolution!" Tor shouted, crushing a vine with her combat boot. "Only deadly!"

"Gah!"

"Let's get out of here!" Phoenix yelled.

"Look!" Tor shouted, ducking another whipping vine. She pointed at the reddish aircraft flying above them. Its side sported the Red Fountain crest.

"Jeez, I'm beginning to suspect that Red Fountain is stalking us," Aerin muttered, stomping on a particularly nasty vine. With a grunt, she twisted her heel back and forth, grinding it into the dirt.

"Come on, let's scramble!" Jake shouted, hurdling over and under whipping vines. The girls followed her lead, tumbling into a clearer area.

"Aircrafts don't use steam engines, right?" Tor asked, inspecting her various scrapes and cuts. Jake dribbled water on her skinned knees, dabbing at them with a white broderie anglaise handkerchief. She stained it beyond redemption, cleaning the dirt from the wounds.

"Of course not, you dimwit," Aerin snapped, brushing down the front of her jumpsuit. "Why on Zenith do you ask?"

"Because that aircraft is trailing an awfully unhealthy amount of smoke," Tor pointed out.

"Oh, dear."

"After that ship!" Phoenix and Raze yelled, taking off into the bushes. Tor swore.

"I don't know why I put up with you people," she muttered. Tor leapt a conveniently uplifted tree-root. She glanced back and saw the root sulkily disappearing back into the ground. Tor scowled at its previous location. Raze tugged on her arm, running past her.

"Watch out!" Tor shouted. Raze ducked, just in time to avoid a hastily dropped tree branch.

"I swear, these trees, no, this whole swamp, is out to get us," Tor muttered. The tree branch that nearly hit Raze swung her way. Tor batted it out of her face.

"Go away," she said firmly. Just because she was a metal fairy didn't mean she couldn't order plants around.

"Duck and cover!" Jake hollered, throwing herself to the ground and covering her head with her arms. The Red Fountain aircraft passed uncomfortably close overhead, skimming the treetops and making a very, very bumpy landing in what seemed to be a clearing up ahead. They all winced when they heard the sound of the craft touching down.

Touching down was, in this case, a euphemism.

Of course, said landing was followed by the sound of various things exploding, instantaneously catching fire or just generally going kaput. There was a fearsome roar, and the sound of screeching metal as some creature presumably tore the ship's metal hide wide open. The ground shook; Jake dropped again.

"Localised earthquake!" she yelled, mostly to herself. Tor glared at a tree trunk and grabbed it to stabilise herself. Once the shaking of the ground stopped, the girls could finally hear curses filling the air.

"Oh, pox-rotted, scummer-licking-"

"-beep beeping beep beep censored beeping-"

"-{CENSORED} son of a {CENSORED} {CENSORED}-"

"-STUFF THIS SHIT!"

"Damn," Tor whistled, "I thought Mom had beat all the swears outta him already."

"Seems not," Cass responded, with much in the way of amusement. Jake scowled and stormed out of the forest, startling a very agitated group of Specialists.

"I'm telling you, Winter, it's all your bloody fault! No, you just _had_ to make that prophetic joke, you ludicrous dunce!" Caspian was very pink, or as pink as someone of his colouring could be. Cass blinked and choked down a giggle, seeing her brother shouting in the red-head's face with arms akimbo.  
>"Say it, don't spray it," Winter retorted, waving his good arm just as vigorously.<p>

"You ignorant fool!"

"You, you incorrigible abomination!"

"You monstrosity!"

"You barbarian!"

"Illiterate ape!"

"Latrine-dwelling sea cucumber!"

Kaien blinked. "That made no sense at all."

"ARGH!" they both shouted, "STAY OUTTA THIS!"

"Can we please focus on the matter at hand?" Jehan shouted, conking both of them on the head. He groaned tiredly. "If we don't get that hunting troll back, we won't be running missions till after we graduate. We're hanging by a thread- still, with this mess-up, we might still be put back to basic training and cleaning out the dragon stables!"

"No, not the stables," Tyler gasped, trembling visibly. "That scarred me for life."

"Look, no-one told you to stand under that dragon's anus, alright?" Tor snapped. "You guys, just get on with it already!"

"Hey, it's Tor!" Raziel grinned, poking his head out of the ship's open hatch.

"Ugh," Tor scoffed, "Males."

Caspian and Winter were still at loggerheads, of course; Cass grabbed their collars and knocked their heads together while Jake got the details about the sticky sitch from Kaien. Raziel grinned and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he held up a bunch of shot cables through the hole blown through the ship's side. Phoenix pointed at the cables, spluttering.

"So you're saying you let a hunting troll loose?" Tor crossed her arms, eyebrow arching elegantly.

"No, I'm saying we got _shot down_ and then the hunting troll escaped," Jehan snapped. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "We didn't _want_ the troll to escape, but I guess hunting trolls _aren't telepathically connected to__ the whims of Red Fountain sophomores_!"

"Excuse me for asking," Tor snapped back, eyes narrowed in an expression of supreme annoyance.

(Aside, Aerin asked Tyler how he could be Tor's twin and a year above them at the same time. Tyler explained that Red Fountain, in essence, covered the last year of middle school and the three years of high school that were standard everywhere else. That meant while Red Fountain second years were considered sophomores in the school, they would have been freshmen elsewhere. Alfea simply skipped over term sophomore, instead using the freshmen, junior and senior years to describe their grade differentiations.)

Jehan sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry, Tor," he said, "I didn't mean to snap. I'm just stressed, that's all."

Tor grinned crookedly. "Good. If you weren't, I'd be doubting your sanity."

Jehan grinned.

"Alright, let's get to tracking this hunting troll," Tor announced. "Girls and boys, muster up-"

"-we gotta troll to catch!" Raze cheered, punching the air.

* * *

><p>"It seems we were correctly informed," the brown-haired figure said, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. The enormous, blue-skinned hunting troll lumbered toward them, snuffling. Its eyes were dull and unintelligent-looking.<p>

"Shade, the shawl, please," the girl with the bluish-white hair said. The brown haired girl proffered the said shawl while the other girl snickered.

"Spark, enough of that," she admonished.

"Oh, Frost," Spark pouted. "Let me have my fun."

"Fun will come later," Frost snapped. The hunting troll had approached them. It snuffled, blinking at them, before bowing its head. Frost held the shawl out to it.

"Find," she said, "and destroy."

* * *

><p>"I don't like the look of those babies," Tyler muttered to Tor. Tor tsked.<p>

"_Quietus carnivorous_," she said, "Prone to eating loudmouths. They can't stand people kicking up a racket."

"Let's hurry up!" Jehan called, fidgeting restlessly.

"Shut up!" Tor hissed. The carnivorous vines shifted, snaking toward Jehan. Tor glared at the plants. They backed away slowly.

"Come on," Jake whispered, tugging Kaien and Winter along.

They were soon out of the thicket. Cass and Aerin sighed in relief. They'd had enough of the killer plants for a day. Scratch that, for a full semester.

"Alrighty," Phoenix grinned, hands on hips, "Time to vanquish some rapids!"

"I don't know about that," Raziel said, eyeing the bobbing crossing-pads doubtfully. "They don't look awfully stable."

"This calls for some leaping!" Phoenix cheered, ignoring his doubt.

"Ha, I remember that photo of Tor and Tyler in tights, do you? They were in first grade, and Tor had dragged Tyler to ballet class," Raze laughed, nudging Cass. Cass giggled.

"Tor was even wearing a tutu, a pink chiffon one," Cass said, smiling broadly. Tor spluttered and gagged.

"Pink? Bleurgh," she said, making a disgusted face and sticking out her tongue.

"Leap like a little deer, my darlings!" Phoenix sang, leaping onto one of the bobbing miniature islands. As she leapt, she called again, "Leap for the sky!"

"No effing way," Tor called, sticking out her tongue as she jumped onto one of the islands. Raziel shrugged, and he followed them across.

"This is pretty fun!" Cass shouted over the roar of the river. Caspian whooped and landed, before jumping again as Jehan took his old spot. Kaien windmilled, wobbling forwards and backwards before regaining his balance and moving again.

Phoenix was the first to reach the shore, closely followed by Tor, Tyler (who had to be at least equal, if not better than his twin sister), and Raze. Once the others had safely landed on the other bank, they continued their search for the troll.

"How do you know the troll went this way?" Kaien asked Jake. Jake shrugged.

"Instinct. And, the fact that trolls have serious B. O.," she muttered. Kaien grimaced.

"I think we're getting closer," Aerin said. "The voice of nature is kind of pointing that way. It sounds wishy-washy, but, yeah..."

"When Mother Nature wants to be heard, she wants to be heard," Tor finished. "I know."

"That B.O. Is getting seriously strong," Phoenix said, pinching her nose.

"Yeah, and nature's voice is shrieking at me," Tor said. Tyler was wincing. "Tyler's always been more sensitive to the voice of nature than me."

"Ow, it's really hurting now," Tyler said, "the negative vibes are really- ouch!"

The troll's smell was unmistakeable. Its stench was followed by an equally unmistakable roar, and a downright obvious scream.

"Troll at twelve o'clock!"

The giant troll turned, snarling at them. Its vast oral cavity was full of spit. Said spit went flying at them when it roared. Raziel looked at Jehan and cursed. They grabbed their phantoblades, and flicked them out with one swift gesture.

"Form up!" Jehan shouted as the troll bellowed again. Caspian, Tyler and Kaien fanned out, circling the troll. Jake ran and filled the gap in their formation. Kaien twirled his double-bladed staff. Caspian grinned ferally.

"Addle-shackles?" Jehan called. Winter held a pair of oversized shackles up.

"Alright!" Jehan yelled, "Raze, Tor, get those girls outta there! Tyler, use your laser strings and immobilise it as much as possible. Caspian, Raziel, Kaien, pin it while me'n Winter get the shackles on! Jake, watch our backs!""

The troll roared, stamping. Its eyes were wide with mad rage. It presumably did not like the look of all the phantoblades out.

"Go, go, go!" Tor shouted, herding their terrified classmates away from the troll. They were backed up against a sandstone cliff, which made it difficult for the girls to get at them unnoticed. Two of the girls, frozen with fear, Tor dragged away easily. Raze tried to get the other one to move.

"No! Why would you help me, Solaria princess?" she snapped, "Are you just going to humiliate me?"

"You festering canker-blossom!" Raze hissed. "That's a real live troll, and unless you want to be troll-bait, just follow, alright? I don't know what your problem is, but now _is not_ the time!"

"Aren't you just like your mother?" she screamed, "You're a rude and, and uncouth selfish-"

The troll roared, fixing its eyes upon them. The girl, presumably Amaryl's daughter, screamed and broke for the woods. Raze dodged, rolling as she hit the ground to avoid being hit by the troll's enormous fist. It made a grab for Phoenix, a scrap of black fabric dwarfed in its hand. It brought the scrap to its nose, and sniffed it.

"You!" it roared, exhausting its vocabulary. Its eyes were full of a primal fire, fixated on Phoenix.

"Me?" she shrieked. "That's my goddamn shawl!"

"This is-" Raziel shouted, dodging the troll's oncoming blow, "-work of-"

Tyler's laser strings wrapped around the troll's arms, neck and legs. He yanked, crying out as the troll went toppling. Kaien, Caspian and Raziel leapt onto the troll, trying to pin its thrashing limbs. Tyler reeled in, tightening his hold and restraining the monster some.

"Shit!" Caspian swore, struggling with one of the monster's arms. Raze threw herself into the fray, followed by Cass. Cass grunted, slamming her full weight onto the monster's arm. It bellowed, arching its back and bucking off the ground. It roared in fury, throwing Cass, Kaien and Raze into the cliff. With one arm, it lunged for Phoenix. Tyler pulled back with his laser strings, throwing his weight backwards. Tor grabbed him from behind, pulling back with him. Aerin grabbed Tor and the three heaved.

"Argh," Tyler grunted, feeling his grip on the laser string glove slip. His palms were sweaty, and his arms were screaming with the effort of holding the troll back.

"Winter!" Jehan yelled, "The shackles!"

Winter ran forward with a war cry, looping the shackles the troll's free arm. It blinked, and struggled to shake off the metal cuff, slamming into Winter and hurling him into a tree.

Jehan grabbed the other side of the cuff, yelling at Caspian and Raziel. They dragged the troll's hands together, and finally clipped the cuff on.

The blue troll stopped dead, its eyes rolling wildly as it slowly staggered into the cliff.

"Kaien," Jake hollered.

"What?"

"Do you have a metal object, more than a metre long, good for hitting with?"

"Yes, my telescopic bo staff," he replied, eyeing her with suspicion. "Why?"

"Give," Jake ordered. Kaien complied.

Jake clambered up the troll and fearlessly hit it over the head. It moaned a bit, and she hit it again. Everyone winced when they head the clang of the metal. The troll's eyes rolled up in its head and it sagged, unconscious.

The Specialists collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Cass and Raze slowly picked themselves up, and Raze limped over to Winter, who was whimpering softly at the base of the tree he had been thrown into. Tyler, Tor and Aerin fell backward, while Caspian and Raziel bumped fists and flopped ungracefully to the ground.

"This can't be good for my arm," Winter hissed, voice thick with pain. Raze crouched and settled his good arm over her shoulder, heaving him off the ground.

"You, you bumbling fools!" someone shouted. The girl who had been shouting at Raze earlier emerged from the thicket, her hair snarled and tangled with twigs and leaves. "You couldn't even fight this, this, ludicrous beast? How can you call yourselves Specialists?"

Jake saluted Jehan.

"Permission to speak, sir."

"Speak, Sergeant Jake."

"Permission to sock 'er one, sir."

"Permission granted, Jakey. Give her all you got."

Jake socked her one.

"Shut up and take your bull spit elsewhere," Tor spat as Amaryl's daughter moaned on the ground. "I'd like to see you try and wrestle a hunting troll like we just did."

She proceeded to spit upon the offending fairy.

"Just what is going on here?" Palladium and Codatorta appeared in an atrocious cloud of yellow smoke. Codatorta looked positively fit to blow.

"Aw, shit."

* * *

><p>"Girls, I regret to inform you that you will receive zero points for punctuality," Professor Palladium said, "but your efforts in the assistance of the Red Fountain Specialists earn you fifteen points for generosity, fifteen points for initiative, twenty-five points for the ability to listen to the voice of nature, thirty-five points for courage, forty points for superb troll-wrangling ability and fifty points for sheer, unadulterated insanity. That brings you to 180 points, by far the highest total in the class."<p>

He turned to the supremely disrespectful girl that had been screaming at Raze.

"Miss Lisyl, you too receive no points for punctuality. You do receive thirty points for the ability to listen to the voice of nature, but I will have to give you a deduction of fifteen points for disrespect, twenty points for ungratefulness, twenty five points for lack of courage, and forty points for lack of skill," Palladium listed, counting off with his fingers. "That brings you to minus seventy points."

Lisyl sputtered and waved her arms wildly when the rest of the class waved at her.

"Well," Tor smirked, "that was fun. Care to call it a date?"

The girls groaned.  
>"How was that romantic at all?" Phoenix moaned.<p>

They collapsed into laughter.

* * *

><p>"Yes, I know we've had <em>our<em> fair share of monsters," Tecna said at the webcam, watching the five other Winx girls' anxious faces. "But that _vecelius abrascus_ wasn't even native to the five hundred kilometre radius around Downtown Magix! And that hunting troll, based on the reports that I managed to get- It was on a find and destroy mission, and it had Phoenix's shawl. This is just addign up to one big, ugly picture, and here we are, sitting back and doing blessed little-"

"Tec, we have responsibilities," Bloom said gently, "We can't just storm out and go on a wild monster-hunt- the diplomats for Aezeri are due any minute-"

"I'm stuck around Solaria for the next two weeks," Stella said. "Can't go. We're in the critical part of our negotiations with Elusiva, and you know how temperamental they are."

Flora nodded sagely. "I'll see what I can do. I have a little more flex than you guys, what with-"

"People change," Musa said, pushing her hair out of her face. "But we never though it'd be our sweet, vegan Flora-"

"-and now look. She's the mastermind behind STIO," Layla chimed, smirking.

"And we all know about STIO," Musa finished, grinning cheekily.

"I know. Look how my children turned out," Flora said, smiling wryly. A door slid open behind her, and Flora turned. There was a vague whisper of conversation, and a blonde girl in black combat fatigues bowed slightly before presenting Flora with a stack of papers in a manila folder.

"Alright," Flora still said, looking behind her. "Thank you, Angel."

"So," Tecna said, studying the faces of the five other women. "What will we do?"

Flora tapped her pen against her chin. "I have a couple of candidates in mind."

"I know Faragonda will be watching out for the girls," Bloom said. A strange expression crossed her face. Age had not dimmed her beauty- instead, it was a proud, decisive kind of attractiveness that years of experience and power had carved into the sweet curves of her youth. "It seems like just a second ago, doesn't it, girls?"

"Yeah, when we were running around blasting monsters and Faragonda was looking out for us," Stella added.

The girls smiled and nodded at each other. One by one, the screens went black. Tecna switched to another window and typed in a prompt.

"_Vecelisu abrascus_," she muttered, "A distant cousin of the _leodragus_..."

Three and a half light-years away, on the other side of Linphea, Flora pressed a com button. A holographic screen flashed into life, and Helia turned to look at her.

"Hmm?"

"Helia, I 'm calling in Mercy."

He looked at her incredulously. "Mercy?"

She nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys. This is Phoenix of Melody~<strong>

**Nickname:** Phee. But only Riley and Tyler call me that. XP

**Favourite Food: **Cake? Or maybe Korean instant noodles. Yukgaejang ramen ;)

**Favourite Colour: **Heh... lime green.

**Favourite Hobby: **Jamming to good tunes and taking photos. And I may just be making the shift into being a serial dater... probably me just overreacting.

**Favourite Pet: **I'm allergic to cats, so that's out. I do have this enormous long snake. He's completely harmless, but still, my mom shrieks when she sees him out of his tank.

**Idea****l Boyfriend: **A cute-and-innocent-face ulzzang boy.

**Best Friends:** Jake of Eraklyon and Raze of Solaria.

**Favourite Movies: **Hayao Miyazaki movies, especially Howl's Moving Castle.

**Loves: **Doodling, blogging and taking polaroids with Raziel.

**Hates:** The New Trix, and being treated like a little kid. Damn.

**Favourite Music: **Vocaloid, techno, dance music. My goal is to master rapping Ura-Omote Lovers. _Toushindai no ura-omote!_

**Favourite Shoes: **Go-go boots. Haha, no I kid. Rubber flip-flops in bright colours with beads on them.

**Favourite Subject: **Potionology. It's just like cooking.

**Favourite Spell: **Lightning Sphere.

**Catchphrase: **I. Am. Ulzzang.


	4. Chapter 4

**4: Too Cutesy To Be For Cereal**

"I'm bored," Jake groaned for the seventeenth time. Aerin glared, and returned to her typing. No doubt she was working on a program or something of the sort. Raze was lazily flipping through a magazine, waiting for her repainted toenails to dry. Phoenix was also lying on the floor, with her feet in the air. She was working on some Potionology homework, tapping her pencil against her lip. Tor breezed out of her room, dressed in her scarlet flying coat and tying off a tight French braid.

"Hey, Tor," Jake called, sitting up. "Where are you going?"

"Riding," she called, opening their dorm door. "A couple of rounds on Tyler's Phyrex mottled striker, since, you know, dragons are an investment and I'm looking for some good DNA contributors."

Jake whistled in appreciation. "That's one serious dragon. What, are you in for your own dragon?"

"Yeah," Tor confirmed, "I'll probably go for a hunter or a war-hunt cross- not as heavy as the straight battle dragons, you know?"

Jake nodded sagely.

Tor brandished a piece of lined paper, like something torn out of an exercise book. Cass snatched it off her.

"Wow," Cass said, "A hand written note, from Jehan Caitlis? That's pretty good for someone like Lutoria 'One Of The Boys' of Linphea."

"Especially from a total pretty-boy like Jehan," Phoenix said.

"Psh," Tor muttered, flapping a hand, "It's nothing, just a time and a place."

"No, this one's special- see, he asked you out to the Black Lagoon cafe," Phoenix argued, pouting.

"You know how hungry you get after racing? No? Well, you know now," Tor said, "and it's nothing special."

Cass grinned and shoved her gently. "Go on, Tori- you have a date to keep."

"See ya later," Jake called. Tor dashed back in, and lifted a long chain from around her neck. "Jakey, take care of this."

"What is it?"

"It's my, uh, Linphean mirror locket," she said, rubbing the back of her neck, "I lose stuff when I go riding, and I _really _do not want to lose this, okay? Thanks, Jake."

"Alright," Jake said doubtfully, hanging it around her neck and slipping it under her shirt.

"Hey, this looks good," Raze said, pointing at a recipe in the magazine. "Foolproof creamy mushroom omelettes- guaranteed to have only half as many calories as a regular omelettes."

"But we need to calories, with all the monster bashing we do," Phoenix complained.

"Aish!" Aerin swore, "Could you all please shut your traps? I'm trying to write a program here!"

* * *

><p>"Gyah!" Jake shouted, rolling off her futon as Raze's alarm clock blared four loud blasts of evil laughter. Phoenix squeaked and Raze sat up at a leisurely pace, rubbing her eyes and stretching.<p>

Jake groaned and clapped her hands over her ears.

"Did you hear when Tor got back? She must have been really getting serious with pretty-boy if she got back so late that we didn't hear her," Raze said.

"Oh, come on, Raze," Phoenix scoffed, "No matter how dirty she can be, Tor is a total nun. And besides, we're barely even legal. I doubt they even know each other that well."

They were interrupted by the sound of expensive ceramics coming to a shattered end. Then there was the sound of upended drawers, metal and pens hitting the ground; there was a furious scream, and another crash.

"Oh, damn," Jake said, "It takes a lot to push Tor like that."

"It mustn't have gone well," Phoenix muttered.

Raze opened the door. A flying vase adjusted its trajectory to aim at her face. Raze ducked and the offending article of pottery sailed through the air, coming to a loud and shattered halt on the floor.  
>"Tor!" Phoenix screamed, "What the hell-"<p>

Phoenix was interrupted by a completely aggravated, not-letting-off-steam-but-holy-freaking-boiling-over scream. Phoenix clapped her hands over her ears, dropping to her knees. Aerin winced. Tor peered out of her and Jake's room. She still hadn't taken off her flying coat, even after a whole night.

"Maybe they really were doing the dirty," Raze said, flinching.

"Hey, Tor, how'd it go?" Cass asked.

"Uh, it went fine," she said.

"Aw, you're gonna have to give us more detail than that, Tori! What was Jehan like?"

"He was, um, sweet," she said.

"Was it romantic?" Phoenix asked, butting in.

"Yeah? And he was- gentlemanly, that's right, gentlemanly," Tor said quickly.

"Tor," Jake said quietly, "if it didn't go well, you don't have to lie to us."

"It went fine!" Tor insisted, slamming the door in their faces.

"Oh, dear," Phoenix said, wincing.

"Leave her," Aerin said, lip curling slightly, "She obviously wants to be alone."

* * *

><p>"So Tor didn't even show up for class," Aerin muttered, outraged, "I can't believe it! Just because your love-life sucks, doesn't mean you should take it out on your education!"<p>

Jake frowned at Aerin. "I dunno. Something doesn't really feel right about this whole bucket of shit. Since when does Tor say gentlemanly? She doesn't even _know _the word."

"Her behaviour was odd, to say the least. But now that you point it out, there's something distinctly worrying about the way she reacted toward us," Cass said, drumming her fingers against her binder.

"Cass, Aerin, I think I'm going to go check on Tor before next class," Jake said, "Something just seems off, like, really off about this whole she-zazzle."

Phoenix bit her lip and Raze seemed reluctant.

"Be careful, okay?" Raze called after her, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Jake ran up to their dorm, fumbling with her key. She blew a stray lock of red hair out of her eyes, before putting her key back in her pocket and closing the door behind her. Jake looked up, and swore.

The dorm's common area was trashed. The sofa was overturned, and the desks were upended. Clothes, books, stationery and shoes were scattered all over the place, and several lamps and vases were smashed against the walls and floor. Jake couldn't see any sign of Tor. She skirted around smashed porcelain and glass, and hastily opened the door to Aerin and Cass' room. It, too, looked like a tornado had wreaked havoc and destruction through it.

Jake only had to take one look before she was tearing through Phoenix and Raze's room. The room was even more trashed than Aerin and Cass'. She swore explosively before running to her own room.

The door slammed shut behind her. Jake whirled.

Tor grinned a wolf's grin at her, baring all her teeth. She casually twirled a lock of dark hair around her finger. She gave into a low laugh of malice.

"Ree-ree?" Jake gasped, reverting to her old child-hood nickname for Tor. "What are you doing, Tor?"

Tor smirked.

"Well, well," she purred, "look who's here."

"Tor, we were worried-"

Tor threw her head back, laughing unrestrainedly. There was no mirth or good feeling in that gesture- Jake took a step backward.

"Tor-"

"I'm looking for something, Jake," Tor hissed, "and I want you to tell me where it is."

"Honestly, Tor," Jake started, feeling uneasy, and greatly suspicious.

"Tell me where my mirror locket is!" she roared, throwing a dark purple pulse of energy at Jake. Jake yelped, dodging to the side. A chair soared through the air, and Jake dropped and rolled as it came crashing to the ground. From outside, there was the noise of people crashing into the outer room. There was shouting, and crashing; Tor screamed in frustration and ran straight at the window, crashing through it and leaping out into the open. There was a brief flash of shadow, then nothing out of the ordinary.

The rest of the girls tumbled into the room.

"Jake!" Raze shouted.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Where's Tor?" Cass said.

"Gone," Jake said flatly, jerking her thumb at the window.

"I told you, there was something honestly wrong," Aerin muttered.

Jake stood up. "I think it's about time we pay suspect numero uno a visit."

"Let's see what Jehan has to say about all this," Phoenix said.

Cass shivered. She couldn't shake the creeping feeling that they were being watched.

* * *

><p>"Huh?" Jehan said completely baffled. "What?"<p>

"Didn't you take her racing yesterday?" Jake accused.

"Well, not that I wouldn't, but..." he trailed off. Winter passed by with a crate in hand.

"Since the troll incident we haven't been let off campus," he snorted. Jehan laughed, rubbing the back of his neck and shrugging.

"That makes it a tiny bit awkward for social engagements," he said sheepishly. "Not that I don't want to, uh, take Tor out to cafes or for racing or stuff."

"Less flirting, more fighting!" someone roared from above. Winter and Jehan sighed. Raziel, who had a shovel in hand, jumped, yelping. The boys looked up and shouted back.

"Yes, Professor Riven, sir!"

"Raziel!" he shouted, "You better not be flirting with my daughter!"

"Aish, Dad!" Phoenix yelled, "would you stop that!"

"Yeah, Uncle Riven, sir!" Raze shouted.

"Phoenix..." Riven growled.

"Dad, really, shut it or I'll call Mom!" Phoenix hollered. Riven growled and stalked off.

"Geez, I really didn't peg your dad for the professor type," Cass told Phoenix.

Phoenix shook her head. "He's here temporarily, covering for one of the other guys- something 'bout getting dragon-bitten."

"Your dad is a terror," Winter grumbled.

"I know, right," Phoenix mumbled, rolling her eyes. "It kind of sparked off from my first boyfriend-"

"He had to stand on a phone book while he was kissing her," Raze snorted. "Let's just say that Phoenix's dad was not so impressed. She's, like, banned from boys under three inches taller than her."

Raziel looked alarmed.

"Hey, what's that?" Jehan asked, poking the piece of paper in Cass' hand. Cass looked startled.

"This? Didn't you give Tor this note?" she asked in an extremely puzzled fashion. Jehan pried the piece of paper from her grip, frowning as he scrutinised it.

"This is insulting. How could you mistake this, this," he sputtered, "this _abomination_ for my handwriting?"

He fished a note from his pocket, hastily unfolding it and showing them the small, neat, regular and detached letters, with the tiniest left-ward slant. The letters on the supposed note were large and emphatic, with jagged angles and sharp edges.

"I worked on my handwriting for over a year to get it to this state," Jehan said, "I'm not going to relapse into something as appalling as this."

Jake looked pointedly at Cass, who was still frowning at the piece of grubby paper in astonishment.

"Let's go," Jake said. She waved at the boys. "Thanks anyway, boys."

Out of the corner of her eyes, Jake would have sworn to heaven, hell and every form of paradise inbetween that she saw a dark shape melting away from the shadows and disappearing into thin air.

* * *

><p>"This is strange," Phoenix muttered, strolling down the broad, paved walkway out of the Red Fountain grounds. "Does anyone else vote for checking out this 'Black Lagoon' cafe? It seems awfully sus."<p>

The girls murmured their agreement. Aerin flipped open her organiser and flipped a few screens.

"And we have a free, then classes finish," Aerin said, snapping the compact electronic device shut. "We're good to go."

"The shuttle!" Phoenix called, pointing at the rounded floating shuttle bus. The girls ran into the shuttle as the doors hissed, sliding shut with a release of gas.

Jake rested her forehead against the cool glass, watching as the blur of the scenery flashed by. Phoenix sat next to her. Jake to sense that the other girls was stiff with tension. Raze sat in the seat in front of them, next to Cass. They glanced at each other periodically, communicating silently through the hidden glances of lifelong friends. The shuttle came to a juddering halt, and they silently progressed out. Aerin tapped away at her electronic organiser.

"I can't find a Black Lagoon on my search engine," Aerin said, frowning. Jake bit her lip.

"Let's ask around," Phoenix suggested. She tapped a passerby on the shoulder. "Excuse me, have you heard of the Black Lagoon cafe?"

She was met with a blank look and a shake of the head. She shrugged. "Let's fan out. Meet back here in half an hour, 'kay?"

The half hour passed quickly, without a trace of the elusive Black Lagoon.

"It's hopeless!" Raze finally shouted, throwing her hands into the air and sitting down on the curb with a bump.

"Yeah," Phoenix muttered sullenly, "so we can kiss the world goodbye."

Jake glared at them. Her fists clenched and her eyes narrowed in irritation. "Oh, so you just want to give up on Tor?"

Raze's head snapped up, and Phoenix looked at Jake in astonishment.

"She obviously doesn't want to be found," Cass pointed out.

"She's still one of us," Jake said, forcing it out through gritted teeth. "A sister. We don't leave a girl behind, no matter what."

Aerin nodded soberly. "Girl's got a point."

"Hey, I heard you gals talking about the Black Lagoon cafe?" Cass jumped, turning to face the chubby young man on the corner. He was attired in non-descript clothes, and had glasses with rectangular lenses.

"Black Lagoon is, like, the coolest," he gushed. "It's only for the totally cool. You girls seem pretty rad to me, but..."

"We're cool. Completely cool," Raze protested. The guy smirked.

"Well, if that's the case," he said, "Just go through Westberk Street and over the bridge."

"Come on, guys!" Raze called. She turned to thank the guy, but he'd disappeared into thin air.

"Hmm," Cass said, "Odd."

She still couldn't shake that feeling prickling along the back of her neck. Someone was watching them.

* * *

><p>"Wow," Phoenix said, eyebrows raised. "For something as underground as a 'Black Lagoon', this looks way too cutesy to be for cereal."<p>

"This place doesn't feel real," Raze said, sniffing the air. "Like, I can feel the reality pressure is, like, _wanked_."

Jake concentrated. "There's no voice of nature. It feels-"

"-dead." Cass' expression was grim. She touched the red tree beside the path, and the tree's trunk hazed. The air around them swelled and rippled, building in pressure rapidly.

"Reality pressure," Raze muttered as the images around them shredded into smoky hazes.

"It was all illusion," Aerin snapped, propping her hands on her hips. She marched up to the cottage door, throwing it open with a bang. It hit the rotting weatherboard facade with a crash of splintering wood. Aerin gritted her teeth and stooped into the dirty, squalid interior. Phoenix squirmed and forced herself to step inside.

A shadow flickered in the corner, and another flashed up the stairs. Jake whirled as the girls instinctively turned to their backs faced each other.

"Took you long enough," a shadowy figure drawled. The door slammed shut and harsh light filled the dank, musty cottage. Tor leaned on the wall, smirking evilly.

"Tor-"

"Give it to me," she snapped.

"Give what?" Jake asked. Tor rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation.

"You stupid girl, you know what!" she hissed. "The Beast Talisman!"

"Tor," Jake said through gritted teeth, "I don't know what's gotten into you, but you have got to be on some serious shit-"

Tor growled and threw her hands into the air. "Give it to me, you stupid pixie!"

That what when she started throwing plasma balls.

"Transform!' Phoenix yelped, ducking behind a dilapidated support pillar as she glowed pearly white. Splinters and white plaster dust sprayed across the shimmering black cloth of her Winx, shed by the intensely magical material. Raze had rolled to a halt nearby ducking a purple light-ball and skinning her knees where her gold boots didn't cover them.

"Curse it," Raze muttered, "These boots-!"

Cass had already powered up with an energy ball, and Aerin looked ready to back her. Jake pushed them back, snarling something.

"You can't hurt her!" she shouted, "It's-"

A look of horror overcame her as Cass and Aerin traded glances.

"-not Tor," Jake finished, dead white. 'Tor' laughed, her form fading and shimmering before morphing into something else.

"You sure are dense," the brown-haired girl sneered. She threw her head back and laughed as two other forms shimmered into view beside her. Phoenix recoiled at the sight of the bluish-blonde girl and the girl with the frizzy maroon hair.

"It's them!" she hissed, "the ones from the night of the kappa crap!"

"So it's you assholes," Raze snarled. Cass grabbed Jake's wrist to stop her from lunging at the older witches.

"Frost," the bluish-haired one said.

"Spark," the frizzy one smirked. The brown-haired one sneered at them, narrowing muddy brown eyes.

"Shade, not at your service," she sneered. "Now give me the Talisman! The mirror locket!"

"What did you do to Tor?" Jake shouted, struggling against Cass and Aerin. Frost snapped her fingers. There was a grunt, and Tor appeared in the air, bound by a Mortal Coil. The Mortal Coil was bound with silver and gold strands, and it seemed to be shrinking by the moment. The razor wire touched bare skin, and Tor gasped. A line of red opened up across her arm, more following in its wake.

"Give me the mirror locket or your friend gets sliced to pieces," Frost snarled. Jake growled and wrested one arm free of Cass and Aerin, throwing a fireball at Frost, who blocked it with a shield of ice. Aerin flicked three rapid-fire balls of pure energy at the girls. They split off, dead on target-

Raze's light shield stopped them dead, and they slid down the smooth, golden surface. The energy balls fizzled out of life and Aerin stared at Raze, aghast.

"Jake," Raze said firmly. Jake stopped.

"Give it to them," Raze said. "Otherwise- Tor-"

Jake bit her lip and cast her eyes down. In a flash of light, she transformed back to her plain clothes. She dug in her pocket and produced the tarnished oval locket. Jake threw it across to Frost, who caught it by its long chain. Tor's eyes widened.

"No," she whispered.

The witches laughed, their bodies already half-in a swirling portal. Cass' uneasy feeling came back with a vengeance, and a a rush of air blasted past her, throwing her hair into her eyes. Just as the portal snapped shut, a vague, semi-transparent black shape flew through the air, squeezing into the vortex.

She was falling, hitting the ground with a thud and a sharp intake of breath. She rolled onto her back as Jake dragged her to her feet. Cass checked her over for injuries, broken bones- it was routine, second nature. They'd had rough childhoods. Aerin was already drawing the base patterns for healing spells over Tor's cuts.

"I'm sorry, Tor," Raze said gently. "It was the only way-"

Tor nodded, resigned. "Thanks."

Jake dusted off her pants, mouth pressed into a grim line.

"Why would they want Tor's mirror locket? And why did they keep saying they wanted, what was it, a Beast Talisman?" she asked, frowning. "It doesn't add up."

Cass shook her head. "You're right, it doesn't. But really, Jake, we're in a rotting cottage that's about to fall down about our ears. Can we just get out of this shit-hole?"

Aerin shivered and nodded emphatically. The girls evacuated the house as it creaked on its foundations, swaying slightly. They didn't stop until they were well over the bridge and on the fringes of Magix. Tor's favourite flying coat was ruined, its burgundy material smutched and shredded by razor wire. She looked glum.

"I'm sorry, guys," she said. "I was dumb to fall into their trap."

"It's okay, Tor," Raze said gently, taking off her jacket and handing it to the other girl. "We didn't know it wasn't, you know…"

A paper plane flew through the air, turning a lazy circle before breezing over their heads. Jake jumped for it, but it eluded her. Tor snatched it from the air with her superior height. She unfolded the lined paper, and a smile slowly overtook her.

"What?" Phoenix asked, grabbing the note. She read it, and grinned.

"Looks like Lutoria 'One Of The Boys' of Linphea really did get lucky after all," Raze commented, smirking as she read the note. Cass confirmed it.

_Tor,_

_A muffin and a coffee at the Serenade on 7__th__ Street? Saturday week, 8am._

_Jehan._

* * *

><p>"We have the locket," Frost said, smugness and derisiveness bleeding into her tone of voice. Spark snorted.<p>

"Yeah, well, stealing from pixies is no big deal," she sniped back. Shade laughed.

"Yowled like a cat, the one we nabbed," Shade said nastily, "and she gave me this bruise. Bitch."

"You can't talk," Spark snapped, "Something scratched me well and good as we went through the portal. Must have been one of the fairies."

Frost pushed up the other girl's sleeves and revealed a long, thin cut along the inside of her arm. It was shallow, but her sleeve was slashed and stained. Frost snarled.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot! I told you to keep a low level shield at all times!" she shouted, "What if they got that bit of blood? Don't you know squat about Essence Theory?"

Spark flinched. Frost's eyes blazed.

"_Idiot!_"

In the darkness, a cloaked figure sniffed the dark red liquid staining the edge of her blade. The figure melted back into the shadows, walking the path of of the unperceived across the galaxy. She had much to think over, and much to do, most of it by herself. True, she was part of an organisation, but she wasn't like anything or anyone else. Mistress and Master could handle being uninformed for a few days, at least until she figured out what exactly was going on.

Mercy had much to think over, indeed.

* * *

><p><strong>Hai, this is COLD HARD FACTS, by Raze~<strong>

**Nickname:** Seeing as my real name is Arazelia Calasynth Celalune, it's pretty safe to say that my nickname is Raze, or Celly, or Synth, or Zeli, or a multitude of other variations. Mostly I go by Raze, though. I mean, what was my mom thinking, saddling me with such mouthful? My mom's a lunatic. I mean, compared to my dad and most normal people. My dad wanted to call me The Kid, or Hey You. See what I mean?

**Favourite Food: **I like food in general. But I'd have to say... LASAGNA OM NOM NOM.

**Favourite Colour: **Sunset orange, and royal purple.

**Favourite Hobby: **Paintball, laser-tag and first person shooting games. Give me a kill streak, I can beat it.

**Favourite Pet: **Wow, that's a tough one. I don't like rats, or mice, or ferrets, wait, I like ferrets! And guinea pigs. Fat guinea pigs.

**Ideal Boyfriend: **A rich, sarcastic butt-head. Nah, jokes jokes- definitely sarcastic, and probably a red-head too. You know they have their tempers~ Wouldn't it be fun to rile your bf up, just to see them blush? XD

**Best Friends:** Phoenix of Melody and Cass of Tides/Andros/general vicinity.

**Favourite Movies: **Action comedy- Rush Hour and the like. Anything with Jackie Chan :)

**Loves: **Hannari tofu plush, fleece fox hats, red-haired guys who blush and are easy to cuddle on cold days~ COD Black Ops, paintball and fluffy scarves, clockpunk.

**Hates:** Blushing, being flashed at, overcooked prawns bleurgh!

**Favourite Music: **Anti-folk, folk-punk, experimental rock.

**Favourite Shoes: **Flat espadrilles, wedges with ankle straps, colourful rubber flip-flops.

**Favourite Subject: **Study of Reality, Magical Theory II, Essence Theory.

**Favourite Spell: **The spell that results in localised reality pressure disturbance? That one.

**Catchphrase:** Serve me a big fat hunk of cow.


	5. Chapter 5

**5: Welcome To the Jungle (Did I Say Jungle? I Meant Labyrinth)**

"So?"

Jake sighed and wondered how Phoenix became so bloody damn _thickheaded_.

"What I mean is that-" Phoenix was already staring blankly at the yellowing, dust book in front of her.

"Could you listen to me for a bloody moment?" Jake snapped, propping her hands on her hips. The other girl stared at her, and then shook her head like a dog.

"What?" she said dazedly. Her head fell against the pages of the book, and she closed her eyes, sighing deeply.

"Oh, for-! Just go to bed, Phoenix," Jake muttered. "You're dead on your feet."

It was only ten o'clock, but they'd had so many consistent late nights researching and cramming for tests that by that Thursday, they were all tired. Well, tired was an understatement. Dead of exhaustion was more apt a term, evidenced by the bruise-like semicircles under their eyes, and the perpetually blank, zombified look that Phoenix and Raze wore to most classes and social engagements. Cass had seemed incapable of any literate response to casual conversation other than 'ngh' or 'mffph'. Tyler had seemed alarmed at their exhaustion, and tried to recall if he'd ever felt that way during test time.

"I think we've come to a unanimous decision," Tor said tiredly. "No more books."

Raze yawned and stretched, and her spine cracked as she bent backwards. Raze rubbed her eyes.

"Can we go, now?" she asked sleepily. Cass was asleep on the table, drooling slightly from the corner of her mouth.

"Okay, okay," Jake muttered. Tor grunted and got up, trudging out of the library.

The rest of the girls floated off (well, the heavy-sleeping and naturally sleepy Cass was dragged off by Raze and Tor) gradually, save for Jake, who hauled out another book and rubbed her eyes, squinting as the letters swam on the page. She doggedly persisted at the whole Beast Talisman business- she didn't know why, but she had to know.

She didn't know when she'd fallen asleep, but a gentle hand shook her awake.

"Jake," Ms. Faragonda said. The woman hadn't aged a mite in twenty years, and Jake suspected there was some sort of spell going on- that was all in retrospect of course.

"Huh?' she said sleepily, rubbing her cheek where it had rested against the table. She checked her digital watch quickly and noted with sleepy surprise that it was quarter to twelve.

"Oh," she mumbled, "Sorry, Ms. Faragonda."

Faragonda smiled gently. "That's alright, Jake."

Behind her spectacles, Jake saw her eyes dart toward the open book on the table.

"Oh my," she said as Jake sat up slowly and closed the book. Jake stopped.

"What's the matter?"

"Jake, can I tell you a story?" Faragonda asked. Jake nodded. The sleepiness was washing from her system and she could sense an uncertain undertone to the headmistress' voice.

"I trust you know the story of the wolf-woman," Faragonda started. "The story of the beautiful gypsy woman who became a wolf after sucking the magic of the children of each village she passed through. When the magic she leeched faded, she became the gyspy woman again, sucking the magic of other children. It is designed to teach young children, especially the then-vulnerable children of terrestrial fairies, not to trust."

Jake shivered, "I always hated that story. Too grim."

"Well, there is another legend, lesser known," Faragonda said. "Long ago, when the world was new and the Dragon-fire was fresh on the land, there were the first guardians, beings created by the Great Dragon to create life on the bare universe. The guardians made life wherever they trod, bringing life and light to every corner of the known universe. We don't know precisely when, but there first guardians gave birth and spawned the races of the universes that we see today.

"It must have been very soon after the last act of the Dragon, on the planet Sparks that was still ablaze with the magic of the dragon. The first daughters of the first guardians were born on the burning planet, in smoke and flame. The daughters grew into beautiful young women, strong and loyal and powerful; it was needful, for the life that the guardians created rebelled against them in a war that tore apart the face of the worlds. The guardians, the creators of the life that rebelled against them, could not destroy the forces opposing them, and so went into hiding. When the war was reaching its worst, and the destruction ranged across every place known to every living thing that flew or walked or crept along the ground, the six daughters returned to their birthplace.

"In the flames of the place known as the Dragon's Mouth, the six daughters joined hands and meditated for seven days and seven nights. The rebel army drew near to them, bringing their carnage to survivors willing to defend what was good and right with their uncertain world. On the seventh night, as the rebels reached the foot of the mountain holding the Dragon's Mouth, the six guardians' daughters awakened. The Dragon fire still lingering in that place flared into new life, and mixed with the essence of the spirit and magic of the guardians' daughters, creating six new flames within the bodies of the daughters. One was granted the silver flame of fierce cunning and inexhaustible stamina, the flame of the wolf. Another was granted the deadly talons and keen sight of the eagle, with the power of the copper flame. One was granted dominion over the terrible ferocity and sharp instincts of the lioness, with the power of the golden flame; her sister in all but blood was given the supernatural senses and raw strength of the bear, with the amber flame. The last guardians were given the silent grace and invisibility of the deadly panther, being of the obsidian flame; and the armoured scales and devouring fire of the dragon of the ruby flame.

"With the power of the silver, copper, gold, amber, obsidian and ruby flames, the six guardians' daughters were able to defeat the whole rebellion in one battle, decimating the army. The guardians themselves returned to the world, healing it as they walked the earth once more.

"The peace was not to last. The sheer amount of magic and power was too much for each daughter to hold. They went crazy, offloading pure energy onto innocents wherever they went, killing them with the force of the transfer. The guardians realised that they had to stop the carnage- the power needed to be shared, divided, to stop it from destroying its host. From all the living creatures, they selected six boys- a dragon-tamer, an elemental, an angel, a sinner, a knight and a warlock's apprentice. The guardians called on the Great Dragon for help, and the sundering of the spirit flames occurred- half remained with the daughters. The other half of the flames were captured in a spell worked by the warlock's apprentice, given the power to resist the elemental force of the flame by the elemental, and given balance and neutrality by the conflicting yet complementary forces of the angel and the sinner. The spell was sealed with the dragon-fire, and after the warlock broke his connection with the spell, it manifested corporeally and had the form of a silver oval locket. It was given to the knight and his descendants to guard. The spirit flames were passed to the daughters of the daughters, and legend says that the line of inheritance was directly from first daughter to first daughter, but the flames have never appeared since."

By the time Faragonda finished speaking, they were in front of Jake's dorm. Jake frowned in puzzlement, leaning her head on the cool frosted glass of the door.

"Ms. Faragonda," Jake said, "Why are you telling me this?"

Faragonda laid her hand on Jake's shoulder briefly. "It will become clear to you in time."

Faragonda walked away, and Jake stared after her, gears turning in her head.

* * *

><p>"So, based on what the headmistress told me," Jake said slowly, "that Linphean mirror locket-"<p>

"It's not just a locket," Tor said, "It's a talisman."

"Come to think it," Raze said, turning to face Tor, "Have you ever been able to open that locket?"

"The urge never really struck me, but when Tyler tried to open the locket when we were, what nine? He got grounded to within an inch of his life," Tor said, shrugging. "And that wasn't even my dad. It was my laid-back, hippie, flower-arranging, pro-life, vegan mom."

Phoenix mimed over-dramatic shock.  
>"No way," she said, eyes wide. "Your mom wouldn't stomp on a chomp vine even if it was biting her."<p>

"So, we can safely say that the probability of that locket being the Talisman is pretty damn high," Aerin concluded, arranging her long hair into a tight French braid. She tied off the long plat, curling it into a tight bun and stabbing it with pins.

"What are you doing, Aerin?" Cass asked, brushing her corkscrew curls out of her eyes. Aerin simply raised her eyebrows.

Jake stood up, brushing non-existent dust off her shorts.

"Set your alarm clocks for half-past one," she said, disappearing into her room.

"Ready?"

Jake slid the strap of her backpack over her shoulder, tugging the black cap down and tucking her braid into the black cap. Aerin nodded tersely, sliding a projected field variable geometry blade into her belt. Hooked into the carrier loops on the monstrously large belt were two spin grenades that would let off a blinding flash of light and smoke, and a smaller, darker model that looked like a lighter. Several tools and Cass raised her eyebrow, rubbing the dark stain below one eye. Jake flipped her retracted phantoblade with one hand, tucking it into its belt loop. Tor wore her riding leathers, with a long black greatcoat over the top. Raze and Phoenix leaned on one another, checking their belts with one hand each.

"Variable geom blade, spin grenade, fog in a can," Phoenix muttered, "and armoured gloves. All seems to be in order."

"Let's go," Tor said, jerking her head. Aerin shoved her goggles over her eyes, flicking on an internal screen.

"Tunnels are in the bottom floor dorm's utility cupboard," she directed, and the girls slid through the shadows like silk on silk. Cass picked the lock, fiddling with it until the storeroom door swung open smoothly. The girls picked their way past brooms, mops and buckets; Raze nearly sent a pile of cleaning supplies flying when her long limbs tangled in a knot of brooms. Phoenix quickly steadied the taller girl, and pushed her toward the tunnel door. The tunnel smelt damp and musty, and Phoenix wrinkled her nose as tunnel muck squelched under her boots. Something dripped on her, and she flinched. The tunnel meandered up and down, listing to the left and back to the right. Aerin seemed to know where she was taking them, constantly pushing buttons on her minicomputer. The tunnel curved into a gentle upward slope, gradually growing steeper and steeper until the girls struggled to scale the slope.

"Dragon above," Tor muttered, "This is a ridiculous slope."

She grabbed onto an outcrop of rock on the wall and used it to haul herself up the ridiculous tunnel. The girls followed her lead, with varying degrees of success. Jake, Phoenix and Aerin had less upper body strength than Cass, Raze and Tor, who swam, kick-boxed and dragon-rode, respectively. They grunted and gritted their teeth, willing for the tunnel to end.

"Stupid…tunnel," Phoenix panted when the tunnel levelled out. Aerin nodded, and Cass raised a dark eyebrow as Jake clambered onto the level platform.

"Come on-" Aerin said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Calm," Raze said, flapping her hand at Aerin.

With more twists and turns, the girls finally, _finally_ found a door. Granted, it took both Tor and Cass to force (read: kick, body-slam and generally maim) the damned thing open, but they eventually got through. Aerin didn't even have to take out her arc cutter.

"Hush," Jake warned, slipping into the deserted corridor. The corridor was tiled with grey slate and lined with heavy wooden doors with blackened iron hinges. Cass closed her eyes and sighed frustratedly.

"Don't tell me we have to look through every singled damned room in this freaking place," she muttered. Tor patter her friend's back absently. Aerin raised her goggles and looked pointedly at her comrades.

"Shut up," she hissed. "Let's go- I want to get back."

"Does anyone else get that bad feeling?" Phoenix asked quietly, pushing down her dark-vision goggles and sniffing the air delicately. Cass rolled her shoulders.

"Where should we look for the locket?" Tor asked quietly. Aerin stopped and held up a hand, pressing herself against the wall. A lumbering shadow passed through the junction of the corridors. The girls held their breath. The shadow passed and they let out the breath they'd been holding.

Jake peered around the corner.

"I think it's all clear," she said, sliding around the corner.

"Where could that blasted thing be?" Tor muttered twenty minutes later.

"Oh, I don't know!" Jake snapped.

"Pipe down," Aerin hissed. Phoenix peered at a mound of dust accumulating in the corner of the corridor.

"Wait," Phoenix said, "I see something."

She flicked a couple of the additional lenses down on her dark-vision goggles and twiddled the zoom and contrast dials. She scurried down the corridor, scanning quickly around the corridor for the beasts patrolling the halls of the school for witches. Phoenix dug into the pile of dust and assorted filth, mouth twisting, until her hand closed around something. She lifted a small object out of the dust and blew on it, revealing the tarnished silver of Tor's locket.

"You called?" Phoenix smirked, holding up the object. Aerin blanched.

"Phoenix," Aerin murmured. "Put it down."  
>"What?"<p>

"Put it down. Put it down, now," Aerin repeated firmly. Phoenix turned and looked at the locket.

"Oh, crap."

Affixed to the front of the locket was a crystalline structure, glowing brighter and brighter red.

"Put it down, now," Tor said softly. "Phoenix…"

"Too late," she said, and the locket flared like a beacon, filling the corridor with red light. Phoenix yelped, and Tor loped across the hallway, snatching the locket out of Pheonix's hand and smashing the crystal on its front against the wall. The red light cut out abruptly, and Aerin hissed, shoving her goggles up and rubbing her eyes.

"Light overload," she grunted.

Quick footsteps marched down the hallway as voices overlapped over each other, growing in volume.

"Split!" Jake hissed. The New Trix rounded the corner and the girls ran for it. The witches snarled. Frost hurled a bolt of power at them, tearing through the hallway tiles and sending up dust and rock shards. Raze hissed as fractured tiles scraped red lines across her forearms. A stray shadow bolt streaked at her and she blocked it with both arms, flying off her feet and a few feet down the hallway. Raze rolled and sprang to her feet again, sprinting down the corridor. Cass, already at the other end, shouted something unintelligible. A crack raced down the slate tiled floor, erupting into a sudden jolting movement than rippled down the corridor, jolting the witches off their feet. Cass turned tail and turned the corner and Aerin blasted raw power down the hall. Raze ducked and shielded as Aerin's force-bolt passed around her.

"Watch it!' she yelled, leaping over a crater gouged out of the floor. The witches snarled more spells, shrieking over one another as Tor transformed, hurling a bolt of offensive magic down the hallway. Phoenix yelled something thunderous and a thunderball flew down the hallway, rebounding and leaving scorch marks everywhere.

Raze's foot caught on a chunk of rubble, and she careened forward. Instinctively, she tucked and rolled, bolting to her feet and launching herself through the doorway that Tor held open. She gesticulated violently and slammed the door shut as soon as Raze tumbled through. Tor snarled silently at the door before muttering a vicious string of spells. A spot of grey appeared in the centre of the wooden door, spreading in spidery lines, transforming the wood and stone to metal.

"That should hold for a while," she muttered, grabbing Phoenix's arm. The other girl wiped her watering eyes and flipped her goggles down again. The witches' voices could still be heard through the metal, and a dull thud came from the other side of the metal. Tor swore and glared at the wall. It shone brightly for a few seconds before the dull thud rebounded at the witches shrieked, swearing nastily.

"I call it the Bullspit Manouevre. Spits what you put in right back at you," she muttered, glaring, supposedly at the witches on the other side.

"Let's split," Jake hissed, following Aerin down the narrow corridor. It was significantly dustier, and the flooring and plaster showed signs of wear. Aerin turned left, and then took the second right, following the screen on the inside of her night-vision goggles.

"Are we actually getting anywhere?" Raze complained, stretching her arms and back.

Aerin's goggles beeped, and she swore softly, She twiddled the dials and her swear became increasingly violent. Phoenix backed up, looking alarmed. Tor stopped and crossed her arms as Cass casually checked her nails.

"Ah, fuck," she concluded.

"Ah, fuck, what?" Cass asked, raising a scratched eyebrow.

"Ladies, welcome to the dead centre of the Cloud Tower Labyrinth," she said flatly.

"Let's say 'ah, fuck' just for the sake of it," Jake suggested.

The girls groaned.

* * *

><p>"What is this place?"<p>

Jake frowned. "I think it's a library- a small one, at that."

Tor drummed her fingers against her thigh restlessly. Cass laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Tor?"

"What's the time?"

Cass frowned and glanced down at her watch. "Five twenty four, why?"

"I'm supposed to meet Jehan," she said quietly, suddenly very interested in a speck on the toe of her boot.

"I get it," Cass replied, "You don't want to blow it."

"Yeah, but I feel bad that I'm thinking about him _now_-"

Phoenix interrupted with a shout.

"Look at this!" she said, dusting off a battered leather book. "_Eras taelis ferae_. The Beast Talisman comes with an instruction book."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Jake asked forcefully, "Open it!"

"Can't," Phoenix said impatiently, "It's locked."

"What do you mean, locked?"

"Locked, as in locked! Fastened securely, with the use of manual security devices," Phoenix elaborated with exaggerated patience.

"Let's just take it, and go," Tor snapped, flapping her hand at them. "How long is it going to be before they notice we're gone?"

"Have you got the trace up, Rin?" Raze asked, running a hand through her hair.

"Working on it," Aerin muttered, twiddling and tapping away at her minicomputer's fold-out typepad.

"Doesn't anyone else get the feeling that this is an elaborately orchestrated trap?" Tor muttered, shifting impatiently. A furrow formed between Cass' eyebrows.

"Stop," Cass said slowly, gesturing at the book.

"Why?" Jake asked, brushing her hair away from her face.

"History repeats itself," Cass replied. "This is, well, kind of one of those times."

Phoenix looked at the back cover and swore incredulously as the same kind of crystalline structure as was on the locket glowed bright red, shrieking with heat and power. Cass leapt over the piles of books on the floor and snatched the book out of Phoenix's hands. She tossed it to Tor who threw it at Raze who aimed a spinning kick at it, sending it crashing into the wall. The shrieking red crystal smashed into stinging shards against the dusty stone of the wall. Tor swore and gestured at the back of the library, plunging into the dusty depths as voices, both human and more than half-bestial, sounded outside, along with the sound of blasting and breaking rock. Raze jammed a desk across the entryway, while Jake waved a hand and melted the lock and door handle.

"Good going, pocket rocket," Raze growled, "Unless there's another door, we're cornered like rats in a trap."

Jake shoved her.

Aerin flipped her typepad into her jacket pocket, waving a hand and rectifying the disturbances that they'd caused in the library. Silently, she slunk after the other girls, who pressed themselves into the shadows. In the plentiful dark, even Cass had no trouble concealing herself, in her rather shapely, full-bosomed entirety. The back of the apparently small library stretched further than they expected. Tor brushed a dark smear of dust from her coat, squinting through the darkness. Raze tripped and staggered a bit, but Cass caught her. Her usually neat corkscrew curls were in disarray. Well, all of them were in similar states. Jake was smeared with rock dust and bleeding sluggishly from a scrape across her cheek.

Raze held up a hand.

The girls stopped, freezing in the shadows as something slithered through the shelves behind them. The slithering was followed by a dry and scraping kind of noise, and the stead and slow _click-click-click_ of claws or talons against the stone floor.

Several things happened in the next few seconds. From there, it just snowballed.

There was an explosion, and the sound of splintering wood as the door blew inwards. The slithering increased in speed and volume, and a dry, shrieking roar filled the air. High-heeled shoes clamoured against the ground, and snarling, shouting voices filled the air. The clicking of the claws blended into one constant _ratatataratatata_.

Light flooded the hidden library. Above the shelves, a monstrous creature with centipede legs, multiple clawed tentacles and a scaled, elongated body reared, thrashing its grotesquely disproportionate head. Phoenix and Aerin exchanged horrified looks.

_Cybarian serpent_.

"_Run!_"

* * *

><p>The Serenade on 7th Street was a tiny cafe in cream and baby blue, with a striped awning and a window box of flowers. Situated in the slow-moving, late-awakening arts district, the tiny shop was still empty. Jehan smiled vaguely. He liked it that way, in the mornings- quiet enough to hear the early birdsong. The Serenade's owner, Emily, a plump, motherly woman in her fifties, smiled at him as he entered, stooping under the low doorway. The window itself was delicately engraved with whimsical forest scenes, fantastic creatures and scrolling magical script for prosperity, peace and happiness. Emily walked across the tiny cafe, wiping her hands on a faded dishtowel. She tucked it into the waistband of her apron and reached up to ruffle his hair. He stooped to accommodate his surrogate aunt.<p>

"Jehan," Emily smiled, "So early! Aren't you still asleep at this time?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, feeling sheepish.

"Waiting for someone?" Emily asked, the curiosity plain on her face. He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

"Special, is she? You've never brought anyone to the Serenade before," Emily accused. Jehan laughed. She flapped at hand at him, shooing him toward his regular table.

It was still fifteen minutes until Tor would arrive, so Jehan decided to wait for her before ordering. Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed; he expected her to breeze through the door, looking mussed and amazing as usual, but Tor didn't turn up. He didn't feel anything much at that point. Tor had propensities for lateness, and he wasn't omniscient. They'd talked. They knew each other, they were friends, but he didn't know everything about her, least of all how late she could be. Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed; where was she? He stared intently out the window, scanning every passerby for a glimpse of her mane of dark hair, a flash of her favourite flying coat. It never seemed like a good time to bring it up, but he liked the way her flying coat fit against her body, and the way her hair streamed behind her as she rode dragonback. Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed; he was so unbearably hungry that he ordered a hot chocolate as a cold, heavy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

Jehan blinked and took another sip of hot chocolate, glancing at his watch. It'd almost been an hour, and the Serenade was half-full. She could've just slept in, or maybe she'd gotten a detention or something- his mind searched fruitlessly for excuses he couldn't even get himself to believe.

Tor still hadn't come, and the heavy feeling morphed into something hollow and empty. He cursed himself. He, himself, was experienced, not just some lovesick schoolboy! He should've known she might've been stringing him along, but he'd pushed it out of his mind. What was wrong with him? They were platonic, just friends, that was it. Why did he feel so fluttery and shivery around her, and why did he feel this way now?

He tipped back the rest of his hot chocolate.

* * *

><p>"Break for it!" Tor shouted, transforming again and shooting off her feet. The shadows had made the hidden library seem deceptively low-ceilinged. Cass dodged the rippling legs of the Cybarian serpent, as Jake made a break for the back of the library. Raze had already sprinted past, circling the perimeter for an exit. The New Trix converged on Phoenix, who sent an ear-popping wave of thunder at them, before following up with a lightning ball. Aerin backed her up with a wave of energy that shrieked as it cut the air, eliciting a roar from the Cybarian serpent. In a fury, Spark threw a ball of thunder back at Phoenix, but she grabbed hold of it with her powers, slung it around and launched it at the Cybarian serpent.<p>

The serpent roared, and fixed its muddy, pupil-less gaze on Spark. The furious witch launched an attack on the beast as Tor launched blade-like shards of magical energy at the other two witches. Cass crouched and slammed her open palm against the floor, opening a sinkhole under the witches as the ground clawed around them, curling around their limbs. The Cybarian serpent launched itself at the witches, and Aerin and Phoenix dodged out of the way. The scaled body of the serpent and its outstretched legs flattened the shelves and sent tomes and scrolls flying. Frost screamed her fury and hailed ice bolts upon Jake and Raze. Raze blocked with a shining shield, and the Cybarian serpent turned on the source of the heat. Jake threw herself to the ground as the serpent's armoured tentactles nearly took her head off. The frenetic beast circled and roared again, lashing out at the fairies and the witches. It batted Aerin into the wall with the back of its lethal appendage as Tor dropped out of the air to avoid injury.

"Get the witches out of the picture!" she shouted at Cass. Cass nodded and threw energy across the room, locking the witches into place with rock. Phoenix blocked with her arms crossed as one of th e Cybarian serpent's legs descended upon her; it slid of her shied with a screech. The creature roared, infuriated by the noise. Shade wrestled her arm free and hit Jake in the back with a plasma ball. The redhead cried out and fell, blasted to the ground. She staggered to her feet, and the serpent's tentacles swept toward her. Jake turned, a look of horror on her face as she fought to free shake her wings free. Raze stretched her hand out, trying to form a shield; Frost blasted her into a wall and trapped her there with ice. Raze lashed out at the witch. Aerin threw spells at the beast as the ground and ceiling shook. Phoenix threw open the door she'd finally found-

Tor swooped under the creature's claws and tackled Jake out of the way.

Raze burst out of her ice prison and shouted a spell. The codex of the _eras taelis ferae _flew into her hand and broke for the door, grabbing Tor's hand as the other girls transformed back. Jake ran through the door as Aerin held it open, gesticulating wildly. Her lips never stopped moving as she sustained a ceiling to floor shield keeping for the Cybarian serpent and the witches at bay as the girls escaped. When everyone was through, Aerin unhooked the lighter-shaped grenade from her belt and threw it into the room. Her shield moved backward as the grenade passed through it. Aerin slammed the door shut, still sustaining her shield, as the aftershocks of the grenade blast shook the tunnel.

There were a few seconds of stunned silence, before the Cybarian serpent roared with redoubled fury and the witches spat spells and plasma balls. Cass slammed a hand into the earthen tunnel wall. The rock of the surrounding earth crept across to cover the wooden door, dampening the sounds of the battle continuing to rage within.

Aerin brushed a stray lock of hair away from her eyes and flipped open her typepad, fingers moving soundlessly. The lights in her goggle-screens flashed intermittently as she walked forward. The other girls trailed behind her, following without a word. They trusted their technological expert, and if there was anyone who could get them out of the mess they were in, it would be Aerin.

The tunnel moved to a gradual upward slope, veering to the right in a single path. There was nowhere else to go. They had to follow the path of the underground passage.

Cass wasn't sure for how long they'd walked until she checked her battered but intact wristwatch. 7:18am. She made a face in silent pity for Tor, who brought up the rear of the group. She would never make it in time.

Aerin smiled thinly as the corridor made its final upward descent. Jake made a noise that was a cross between a growl of frustration and a sight of relief as they spotted the door within a hundred metres of them. None of them really cared where the door lead, but that there was a door. The low ceiling and narrowness of the passage had become oppressive long ago.

Raze all but kicked the door down in her hurry to get out. The girls tumbled into the cleaning closet, panting and wiping grime from their faces. Cass held the door for Tor, and noticed that her friend was paler than usual under her tan.

"Tor," she said softly as Raze opened the door, "I think if you transform and fly, you might make it…"

Raze pulled the door of the cleaning closet open and stopped dead.

* * *

><p>At 10:00am Jehan finally had enough of waiting. It was obvious that she wasn't going to show, so he thanked Emily half-heartedly, and paid for his hot chocolate. Emily looked at him pityingly and handed him a plastic bag full of double chocolate fudge brownies, knowing that he'd need the comfort food. She patted him on the shoulder. It saddened her, and alarmed her, that he was this miserable over a girl. He went through girls like a duck through water, even though he never talked about it with his auntie; not so much a case of him being afraid of her reaction as much as him not caring enough to introduce them to his inner circle.<p>

"I'm sorry," Emily offered, "maybe she had something else…?"

The weather outside looked gloomy- cloud had quickly overtaken the warmth and sunshine of the earlier morning.

"She would've had the good grace to call, at least," he muttered, sound sharp and bitter.

"At least stay until the weather looks better?" Emily asked gently. Jehan tugged the hood of his jacket over his head. Emily returned the coins he'd given her in payment for the hot chocolate. He would normally refuse, robustly insisting that him not paying was bad for her business (it would be, as a matter of fact; Jehan drank so much hot chocolate and ate so many double chocolate fudge brownies –without getting fat- that she'd be eaten out of house and home if she didn't allow him to pay at some point or another).

"I'll see you later, Auntie."

He strode out of the café, one hand in his pocket with his hood over his head as it started to sprinkle, then rain.

* * *

><p>Phoenix, not looking where she was going, crashed into Raze's back and promptly back-pedalled, backing into Aerin. Aerin shoved her forward, and Phoenix very nearly tripped into Raze again. She caught herself in time, peering around Raze to see what had stopped the other girl in her tracks. Phoenix goggled.<p>

Jake was unable to keep a lid on the faint swear that veritably fell out of her mouth.

Ms. Faragonda and Griselda stood in the corridor, hands on hips, frowning in utter disapproval.

"And just _where_ have you girls been?" Griselda demanded. Her fingers flicked, and the six girls were dragged out of the cupboard and hauled into a line in the corridor. Cass noticed that Tor still had her arm pressed to her side awkwardly, and her face was twisted into the strangest expression.

"Jacelya of Eraklyon," Griselda sneered, "Despite the shining praise showered on your mother, you have yet to live up to her reputation."

Jake met her gaze defiantly, chin up and mouth set stubbornly.

Griselda moved onto Raze, hands fastened firmly behind her back. She looked the girl up and down.

"Arazelia of Solaria," she said, peering at the girl over her angular glasses. "Never have I seen a more appalling example of juvenile delinquent. Strict discipline is in order for you, young lady."

Raze's eyebrow rose and her mouth twitched, as if she were suppressing a snide comment. Griselda sniffed and moved on.

She turned to face Aerin and Phoenix, "Phoenix of Melody. I am not impressed, but I cannot say that I did not expect this. As for you, Aerin of Zenith, I had higher expectations."

Phoenix's face creased into a frown, and she stared straight ahead. Aerin's gaze shifted to the floor and her hands clenched into fists.

"Cassia of Andros," Griselda said, "I am very disappointed in you."

Griselda proceeded along the line and finally faced Tor.

"Lutoria of Linphea," Griselda began, "you- Is that blood?"

Griselda pointed at the dark stain on the side of her coat. Tor lifted her arm away from her side and peered at the rips in her leathers.

"This?" she said hazily, pointing at the ugly gashes down her side, "Regrettably, yes."

With that, she swayed forward and collapsed.

* * *

><p><strong>Nickname: <strong>Rin, Rini, Faker Kagamine. I know. I, too, see the correlation. [Shut up, Phoenix].

**Favourite Food:** Um…anything full of cheese, cream and meat. Namely pasta bake, mac-and-cheese, lasagne, you get the idea.

**Favourite Colour: **Oh, I don't know, figure it out yourself!

**Favourite Hobby: **What do you think, dimwit? Programming, robotics, Nerf gun sniping. Crazy guitar solos, like the ones scattered throughout Romeo and Cinderella, the band version. Obsessive blogging. Do you have a problem with that? No? Good.

**Favourite Pet: **I don't like animals. Full stop.

**Ideal Boyfriend: **A boy who knows when to give me alone time. By that I mean alone time, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty freaking five days a year.

**Best Friends:** Currently, none of those incorrigible ingrates. I warned them. I really did. Now they've been banished out of the dorm while I get some actual work done. Jerks. But normally, I guess it would be Phoenix and Cass of Andros/Tides (?).

**Favourite Movies: **What must I say to get you to quit bothering me? Ah, I don't know, _A Common Thread_, _A Very Long Engagement_, _One Night The Moon_; a good foreign language/indie film is all I need.

**Loves: **PEACE AND QUIET. NEED I SAY MORE?

**Hates: **You. You're bothering me.

**Favourite Music: **Anything classical, instrumental solos, film music. Orchestral stuff. And crazy guitar solos.

**Favourite Shoes: **Something that will hurt when I kick you.

**Favourite Subject: **Interuniversal Social History, Applied Calculative Theoretics.

**Favourite Spell: **The gamut of cleaning spells in my veritable arsenal.

_Hi~! This is Phoenix. Sorry about Aerin. She's just a bit of a tsundere O^O. Don't worry though, her bark is worse than her bite. Not by much- Actually, I got it wrong. Her bite is a__c__tually pretty bad. So be careful, and sorry again for Aerin's tsundere-ness._

**THIS IS AERIN AGAIN. I AM NOT A TSUNDERE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR PRESIDENT.**


	6. Chapter 6

**6: Break And Enter Is For Professionals Only**

"Your magic privileges have been suspended for two weeks, and you will be confined to school grounds for three weeks. Communication privileges such as networking, cell phones and hologram coms have been suspended for two weeks. Additional duties include kitchen clean-up, school cleaning- _without_ magic- and you will not be allowed to attend the upcoming music concert at the Down City Concert Hall. Your parents will be notified and a permanent mark will be placed on your record. This was a serious breach of school rules," Griselda said, "Do you understand how much danger you placed yourselves in? And for what? To prove your bravery? You have achieved nothing."

The five girls nodded tersely.

"I trust you will relay all of these instructions to Miss Lutoria. Your visiting hours will be limited to fifteen minutes per day, until she is released from the infirmary. For the duration of the time she is recovering, she will be exempt from these conditions; however, if you breach school rules during this probationary period, you will be suspended indefinitely from Alfea and your place at the school will come under review."

Griselda paced in front of them, mouth pursed. She glared at them again, over her glasses.

"Do you understand who is at fault here? You need to understand that this kind of irrational and irresponsible, as well as dangerous, behaviour will not be tolerated at Alfea. If you want to take your future as potential Guardian fairies seriously, you will do well to clean up your acts. You have failed your school and your misconduct is a smirch on Alfea's reputation."

Aerin pressed her lips into a tight line. Her scholarship was at stake- not that her parents couldn't afford to send her to Alfea, what with her mother's status as a Guardian and all. It was an honour thing. She came to Alfea by her own means and she would remain there for the full term of what she deserved. And if they did kick her out, and expulsion would mean instant rejection from Blackholt, her second choice and Antarion, her third. The only places that would take her would probably be Beta and Highton, dumping grounds for useless princesses without two brain cells to rub against each other. She _would not_ let that happen.

Phoenix winced. She could already hear her mother shouting things and throwing things while her father simmered away in the corner, looking utterly disapproving. She could just imagine Riley snorting and trying not to laugh at her, Then she started feeling prematurely terrible, before she kicked herself into thinking that what they did was completely necessary. The codex of the _eras taelis ferae_ was something they needed, anyway.

Raze frowned. They had no right to do those things! Of all the things she could get caught for, this wasn't one of the things she'd been planning on- she'd planned on using every single broom cupboard in the school to make out with a different RF boy, one for each cupboard. The nerve of those witches, and that bloody Cybarian serpent- She was angry at a hundred and one different things at that moment, and the punishment they'd been given was one of them. She was willing to bet good money, very good money, that her mother and the girls' mothers had done something like this during their freshie year; she would also be willing to bet that they'd gotten off relatively scot free compared to them.

Cass absently tucked her hair behind her ear. Her thoughts were not really there in full. She thought about Tor, and how she'd taken the hit meant for Jake- she'd taken more than one blow, actually; her and Jehan were officially an uncertainty. Cass could tell. Jehan was one of those guys who moped and got depressed and miserable and were difficult to kick back into relationships. She'd have to do something for Tor, and fast, but there was no way anything was happening if they didn't have any network access or hologram com.

Jake fidgeted as Griselda peered at her, arms crossed and lip curled ever so slightly. She heard words, but they didn't make sense. They jumbled together and twisted around one another, squeezing the life of each other until all she heard was _all_- _fault_- _this_-_ your_- _danger_- _breach- parents- record-_

_This is all my fault_. _If I hadn't gone to Cloud Tower, if I hadn't blood__y insisted on delving into that Beast Talisman legend, we wouldn't be in this bloody freaking mess._

Griselda nodded and flapped a hand at them. The girls took it as a dismissal and filed out of her office, too proud to flee like they wanted to. Once they exited, they all but bolted down the teacher's office corridor and out onto the courtyard. Cass lead them into the shade of one of the tall evergreen trees and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. Phoenix sat down heavily as Raze crossed her arms and tucked her chin against her chest, glowering furiously at the ground.

"I am _not_ a delinquent," she muttered darkly. "I am a first class mischief maker. There is nothing wrong with that."

"What I'm worried about is the mark on our records," Phoenix frowned. Aerin crossed her arms and glared at the floor. Cass brushed a corkscrew curl out of her face.

"With our communications, uh, down," Cass grimaced, "I'm seriously concerned about the future of Tor and Jehan."

"What, you aren't worried that your brother will spaz out?" Phoenix asked.

"Nah," she said, flapping a hand, "Caspian can handle himself. If he chokes on something, Tyler knows the Heimlich manoeuvre."

"No, like, seriously," Phoenix repeated, "You've never gone more than four days without either hologram com or phoning each other. With our coms down, you and Tor's brothers will think you've gone AWOL, and then they'll panic, and they'll call your parents, who'll just say that you've broken rules, and then they'll panic even more, and they'll call in Griffin the albino who'll call in his brother's friend Tae and then Tae will use his magic ninja psychic powers and find out what we did at Cloud Tower and then they'll totally, _totally_ spaz out and bulldoze the gates down and drag us off to some place safe and escape-proof and then we'll never see the light of day again because, face it, your brothers are too predictably overprotective."

Raze blinked. "How do you _know_ this stuff?"

Phoenix inspected her nails. "Oh? Tae's my ex- jointly amicable split. The magic ninja psychic powers rubbed off."

"Tae? As in, Tae-Hyun Kang, the Trace?" Jake spluttered, "A _jointly amicable_ split? That boy wouldn't know jointly amicable if it threw him onto unicorn backwards-"

"Are you _mental_?" Raze demanded. "He's one of the hottest bloody idiots to grace the face of Katsaria 2 summer camp and you _ditched him_?"

"It was a summer thing turned long distance, and he's not technically a Trace- he's a halfie," Phoenix explained with exaggerated patience, "But we're drifting off topic! All I'm saying is the shit that went down is just going to snowball."

"Snowball, schmowball," Raze muttered, "Existential shit only gets worse."

* * *

><p>"Breathe. Breathe, Tyler, in, out, in, out, shit you're freaking blue in the face!"<p>

"Stop freaking out," Winter said, shaking Caspian by the shoulders. Caspian stabbed frantically at the touchscreen on his phone, growing ever more distressed as the same 'number unavailable' tone sounded. Tyler's thumbs moved at the speed of light and he all but slammed his phone halfway through his head as he called his mom. Raziel suddenly leapt off the bed and latched onto Tyler, arms around the other boy's neck in a near-chokehold as Raziel peered over his shoulder. A miserable-looking Jehan peeked out from under Kaien's arm as Kaien paused mid-noogie.

"Hello-"

"Momwhere'sTorherphone'sdeadherphone'sneverdeadwhat'sgoingon?"

"..."

"Mommommommomom-!"

"...Tyler..."

"WHATMOM_WHAT_?"

"...calm down..."

"_NOMOMHOW!_"

"Mom, give me the phone," someone said over the phone. It was a younger female voice, and the phone was inevitably handed over.

"Tyler Evander the First of Linphea. Unless you calm down and speak like a sensible person, I swear to the Dragon, I'll break every single one of your hoverboards in half. Now talk."

Tyler removed the phone from its position and stared at it.

"Tyler," the voice said, "You freaking talk too much. Now don't sit there wasting my time! I have Applied Calculative homework to do! _Now put me on loudspeaker!_"

Tyler blinked, and shouted, "_Tasia_!", but nevertheless complied.

"Look, d'you want to know what's going on or not?"

"Yeah, I do. Just don't be so, ugh, I dunno, annoying," he snapped. "Quickly, quickly! Tell me what's going on!"

"Long story short, Tor's, like, a bearded lady's whisker-width away from being suspended indefinitely. And there was something about a beast- was it, syb-something, I think it started with a C-Y-B-"

"Cybarian serpent?" Kaien supplied.

"Yeah, that thing. Who talked? They sounded damn_ de_licious," Tasia drawled. "NNASO, please, the guy who talked..."

"_Tasia!_"

"...NNASO?"

"Name, number, age and sexual orientation," Tasia replied.

"_Taz_, don't hit on my friends! You're too young for'em!" Tyler howled. "I'm hanging up!"

"No, wait-!"

Tyler stabbed at the end call button. Taz's voice was cut off mid-screech.

"Wait," Caspian said, "I'll call my parents!"

"Dimwit," Winter huffed, fluffing Caspian's hair into a gravity-defying quiff. Caspian squashed it and tapped at his phone. He switched the call to speaker and the dial tone shrilled for a few moments until Caspian's mom picked up.

"Caspy, what's up?"

"_Ma_, don't call me _Caspy_! And what the heck is going on with Tor and Cassie and the phone deadness thing- we tried to call twenty-two times and they haven't picked up, not once-"

"It's a real story, Caspian. You might want to sit down for this one."

Caspian sat. The horrified exclamations started twenty seconds later. By the end of it, Tyler was reduced to an incoherent puddle of devastated mush.

"D-d-devvo..." he muttered. "I d-don't g-ge-get it..."

"Oh...my...Dragon..." Caspian muttered, pale. They looked at each other in abject horror, and their mouths dropped open.

Winter and Kaien looked at one another. _Not good, not good..._

"We have to break into Alfea!"

_Ah, fuck_.

* * *

><p>"No, serious?"<p>

"Yeah, serious."

"You're screwing me over."

"What? Psh, no, what makes you think that."

"…"

"What?"

"That's it. I should just sit down and write my last will and testament to the love of my life."

"What? I didn't know you could be that _serious _about someone, Ice Prince."

"Shut up and go away, Win."

"Aw, Kai."

"And you're not. Serious, as in, fantasizing."

"About…?"

"You know very well. Long legs, blonde, six foot and six pack?"

"…h-how do you know that she has a six pack…?"

"Wild guess."

"…"

"Nah. She told me she had a six pack. Probably worked hard for it."

"…"

"…neh…"

"Don't freaking 'neh' me! What are you going on about?"

"I'm smirking."

"Yeah, I'm not that blind. But you _so_ are, Kai. Five foot pocket rocket, flat as someone's nose after Raziel punches it in?"

"Don't be so crude. And Jake's five foot four."

"So you admit it! Kaien and Jake, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G –"

"…"  
>"-first comes love, then comes marriage–"<p>

"…"

"-then comes Kaien pushing a baby carriage!"

"…fuck."

Tyler whirled around, glaring at them. Kaien and Winter edged backward as his ponytail nearly smacked them across the face in succession.

"Could you _please_ shut up?" he hissed. Winter's eyebrows rose.

"Ow, touchy," Winter muttered. "You are _so_ not feeling the love."

"Can- you- feel- the love- tonight-!" Raziel sang softly, grinning like maniac. His black beanie covered the tops of his ears, but the half-moon still reflected off his skin and the tufts of blonde hair sticking out from his camouflage headgear. All the 'strawberry' and none of the 'blonde' had gone out of his hair, and at times he found himself wondering if he should ever go back to the hairdresser's where he'd had his permanent colour change done.

"Raz," Jehan said, nudging Raziel.

"What?" Raziel's head tipped to one side.

"You're so pale that you _glow_."

"…glow. _Right_."

"No, for real."

"…"

"Off your hair, too. Where'd all the 'strawberry' go?"

"…You know, I wasn't going to keep this past the first week of school, but…I kind of like it."

"What? Was it on a dare or something?"

"…my mom's crazy." Truth be told, Raziel was glad that he could distract Jehan at least a little bit from his misery regarding the disastrous cafe incident. He was _such_ a moper that it wasn't even funny, ignoring his friends' attempts to get him to do things. For the past five days, all he'd done was sleep, eat and attend classes. No matter how much he would robustly deny it, Jehan was somewhat of a romantic, and being rejected like he had supposedly been was a blow to his pride.

Tyler glared at them.

"Can we not discuss your permanent colour now, of all times? We need to figure out the way in," he complained, arms akimbo. Caspian hissed at him to shut up, and they bolted across the oval, a flash of shadow against the moonlit grass. Raziel and Jehan got up, dusted the seat of their dark pants off, and ran across the oval. Raziel pulled ahead easily- he was a lightning fast runner; agile and flexible as well as being double jointed in both shoulders. They had a running competition, just in their dorm block, to see who could fit through a toilet seat without breaking it or warping the plastic permanently- so far, Raziel was the undisputed champion, having gone through three times. He'd gained quite a following and a few haters, as well, namely the bodybuilder from the junior year wrestling team, who had to be cut free from the toilet seat. Granted, he was a pretty good bodybuilder as the toilet seat wedged itself stuck halfway down his pit-bull neck. Jehan was fast, but not as fast as the other boy. Winter, grumbling, rose to his feet, stretching and not waiting for him to sprint across the clearing. Kaien huffed and followed to where Tyler and Raziel were beckoning.

When he came across, he found the bottom half of Raziel's body on the ground while the top half had proceeded through a some sort of a hole or ventilation grille opening no larger than the size of his favourite couch pillow. Granted, it was a nice big couch pillow, (fluffy, goose feather filling), but still, Raziel wriggled like crazy to get through. Once the bottoms of his black Vans had disappeared from view, they waited.

There was a great deal of grunting, scraping around and swearing which they didn't know their voted 'Most Innocent' team member was capable of; in the end, the somewhat concealed door popped open and Raziel grinned at them.

"Should I be worried?" Kaien muttered, stepping backwards. Winter pushed him forward.

"Welcome to the laundry, my friends," Raziel murmured, gesturing toward a screen door and a tiled room within. Washing machines lined the walls and drying lines stretched across half the room. Winter whistled softly when he saw just what was _on_ those drying lines.

"Whew, 34E? What, is that a bra or a helmet for two people?"

"Don't be so _crude_!" Kaien exclaimed, smacking Winter over the head.

"Ow!"

"This is a nice shirt," Raziel commented, holding up a damp shirt with a line drawing of a polaroid camera on it.

"And this is a nice-"

Winter was interrupted as Kaien whacked him again and dragged him away from the scrappy lace undergarment he was fingering. Raziel snickered.

"Hey, stairs." Tyler pointed up a shadowy passage, and Caspian and Jehan followed after him. Raziel brought up the rear, and Tyler slowly turned the doorknob, swinging the door open. They all winced when the door screeched hideously, and didn't dare move for another five minutes. Once Tyler and Caspian were sure that nothing was coming to drag them away on charges of perversion, invasion of space, break and enter, so on and so forth, they scurried into the corridor and edged down it sticking to the safety of the shadows. Raziel mentally marked the B & E down on his register of things he got away with in high school.

They seemed to be having limited success in actually getting anywhere once they were in, and Kaien supposed it was sheer, dull-witted luck that forwarded them to somewhere remotely familiar. Tyler and Caspian immediately recognised the infirmary, due to mucho-de-experience regarding the time they'd been at Alfea with their parents for a reunion. They'd broken their arm and wrist respectively, trying to prove that they were better at balancing on fountains than Raze. Evidently, they were not.

Tyler pushed the door open gently and the boys slid through the narrow gap. They padded near silently through the open layout of the infirmary, scanning the empty beds and unoccupied cubicles.

There was movement; they froze.

"Just because I'm in the infirmary don't mean I can't blow you to bits," a girl growled.

"Tori? What- what..."

Tor facepalmed. "Damn you, Tyler. B&E?"

Tyler shrugged, grinning recklessly. Caspian prodded him, frowning, and he quickly composed himself, scurrying over into the partitioned area.

"How am I going to freaking explain this to Mom?" Tor muttered, "Oh, yeah, Tyler broke into Alfea the other night. He must've come through the laundry, and knowing him, he would've put blue dye in with the whites and bleach with the dark colours. And then he broke into the infirmary and stole all the cotton buds for no fathomable reason. Because he was up all night, he subsequently failed his Applied Calculative Theory test the next day. Damn it, Tyler, what is the freaking logic behind this?"

Tyler appeared very chastised.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, looking up through his eyelashes at his twin sister. "I was just- you know how it is-"

Tor pursed her lips and slugged him on the shoulder. "Ah, alright, alright."

"So," Caspian said, "There was something about you breaking into Cloud Tower? And a Cybarian Serpent-"

"-those things are nasty," Kaien chimed.

"And you know this, how?"

"Rockwell Point Beast Habitarium excursion, last year," Raziel supplied. "It was only an infant Cybarian serpent, but it nearly bit someone's hand off."

"He pissed himself and decided that Fantagor was a better fit," Winter said. "And everyone knows about Fantagor."

Tor grinned. "At Fantagor, everything is easy, but the girls are the easiest of all."

"So, really, what happened?" Raziel asked. His dark eyes were wide and sparkling in the best puppy-dog expression he could muster. Tor pinched his cheek and launched into an animated narration of their exploits in the Cloud Tower Labyrinth, launching excitedly into all the gory details. Tyler gaped at her.

"And since it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," she said, finishing her epic oration, "Look! One hundred percent authentic lower back mauling from a Cybarian serpent. It's pretty tight, if I say so myself. It's kind of sad that by the end of the year, it'll have faded out completely."

"Aw, that is_ sick_, girl," Winter gushed. He pulled up the hem of his shirt and shower her the matching web of scratches across his lower back.

"Matchy-matchy!" she crowed. Winter grinned.

"Mine's from the nasty griffin, the black one at school," he elaborated, pulling his shirt back down. Tor wiggled her oversized shirt back down over her hips and climbed out of the narrow infirmary bed. She shoved her bare feet into the canvas trainers at the side of the bed and looked up at the rest of them.

"So," she said, "D'you need anything else? 'Cause if not, I need to pee."

The guys errupted into a mass of mumbling, awkward social incompetents. Tor grinned and slunk off to the aforementioned receptacle. Raziel nudged Jehan after her. Jehan glared at him.

"Raz..." he said, eyes flashing dangerously in the dim light of the moon through the window. Raziel nudged him again.

"Go," he said firmly, "And don't you 'Raz' me, Jehan Caitlis. Get your answers, though I think you'd know by now why she didn't do what she said she would."

Jehan shot one last sulky look at Raziel before hurrying after the girl. Once he was safely out of earshot, Raziel turned and, looking smug, held out his hand to Winter.

"Cough up," he said, smirking. Winter grumbled and reached into his pocket, producing a rumpled fiver and placed it none too gently in Raziel's palm. The blonde straightened it out and folded it neatly, placing it in his back pocket. Caspian blinked at them in obvious confusion.

"I," Raziel announced, "have just single-handedly saved the entire world known to man, woman and every other gender and sexuality in between. The balance of nature has been restored and you can now tread the earth without fear of it breaking in two under your feet. Go about your business as normal."

Caspian looked at Tyler.

"That didn't explain anything at _all_."

"And the genius of Caspian Felix Evansleigh of Andros kicks in," Kaien commented dryly. Winter smiled slightly. Genius always struck at the most inconvenient moments.

Something rustled in the corridor and a door creaked open. The boys dropped and rolled, hiding in the relative safety and very restrictive confines of Tor's bed. A rather plump-looking, dressing-gowned figure ambled past the cubicle as the boys held their breath, not even so much as _twitching_ for fear of being seen. The matronly figure passed by the foot of the bed and stopped, glancing at the thrown-aside covers and the conspicuously absent pair of dirty canvas trainers.

"Hmm," the matron muttered, "Must be in the bathroom."

The matron rubbed her hands together and made a sound of excitement. "Ooh, now it's ice-cream time!"

The figure set off at a decidedly more energetic pace in the direction of the school kitchens. The boys waited until the doors had swung shut before they collapsed in a heap, gasping for air.

"Dragons above," Tyler muttered. "I need air."

"And that's where the matron's spare tyre comes from," Winter muttered. Kaien grinned briefly.

"Funnily enough, no-one ever says anything when _your_ genius strikes," he replied.

* * *

><p>"Tor."<p>

She turned and Jehan automatically broke eye contact, staring at his shoes and sliding his hands into his pockets. Jehan fidgeted and pushed is hair out of his eyes, only to have it fall back into place, just as it always was- messy and kind of wavy, with a bit of a flick at the ends instead of being as dead straight as her brother's. She crossed her arms and waited for him to say something. When he continued to stand there, not saying anything, Tor began to tap her feet.

Even so, she continued to watch him. Several times, he seemed to be on the verge of saying something, but he would always catch himself; his long, calloused fingers would curl into his palms and his shoulders would tense. A tiny furrow would appear between his eyebrows, and his lips would press together in the beginnings of a frown; he must have sense her watching, because the expression on his face would smooth into simple, vague indifference. The harsh fluorescents lighting the bathroom hallway weren't the most flattering of lights, even more so against the bruise-like shadows under his eyes.

"You haven't been sleeping properly," she said. Jehan continued to stare at the floor. He muttered something so quiet that it was unintelligible; she strained to catch the whisper slipping away from the field of her perception.

"What?"

"No, I haven't," he repeated, still soft.

"Why not?"

He looked away, brushing his hair out of his eyes again. And uneasy silence descended over them again, and Tor fought the urge to swat his hands away and fix his hair herself. He had such thick, shiny, stupidly perfect hair it made her want to _scream_, especially when she compared it to her own out of control curls. Everything about him made her alternately jealous or ridiculously happy; his eyelashes were longer and curlier than hers, his eyes were just as dark as hers and always so expressive.

She began to fiddle with her hair somewhat self-consciously. He was famous, and had girls tripping over themselves to so much as touch the ground he walked on. Even for a girl with the body of a goddess and the skills to match, she couldn't say that he was firmly in her league. As she sifted through her own thoughts, her gaze drifted to the toes of her dirty trainers.

Jehan glanced at her furtively. Sometime ago, she'd started to play with her long, dark curls distractedly, chewing her lip and thinking hard. She was so completely out of his league- she was the perfect image of the unattainable female. Perfect face, perfect body, and a kind of rough and readiness that made half of the deprived boys drool in abject awe of her, because those kinds of girls were hard to come by. He couldn't explain it, the way she was flawed and perfect all in the same moment, the way she made him feel fluttery and helpless and so amazingly alive- She was out of his reach.

"Well, if you're not going to say anything, then I should be getting back," she said. Jehan looked up at her, and opened his mouth, before closing it and looking at her expectantly. Tor rolled her eyes and turned on her heel. If he was set on ignoring her because of the whole thing that happened over Friday and Saturday then that was his problem. She could totally get over him. It didn't matter if he was the Dragon's gift to teenage fangirls, she was made of steel in more ways than one and she would get over it.

...wouldn't she?

"Wait," he said. She stopped, and didn't turned. There was the sound of cloth shifting against cloth, and his hand wrapped around her wrist. She turned, looking him in the eye. This time, he didn't fidget or fiddle or break eye contact. He looked at her with something like a mix of uncertainty and doubt.

"The reason I haven't been able to sleep properly," he said, "Is because I've been thinking..."

"Thinking too much," she said, "It's the downfall of even the best of us. I mean, how many times have you thought too much about something and totally put yourself off it for life like the one time when-"

She was cut off by a soft, warm pressure on her lips. Instinctively, she leaned into it and smiled against his mouth. His lips moved against hers in perfect sync; his head tilted to accommodate her. He wasn't one of those guys who thought that every kiss had to suck the other person's face off; nor was he a hard, fast pecker. He was slow, smooth and had a surprisingly light touch- she'd half-expected him to be more aggressive with his ministrations, but he didn't push it too much. He was good. Not just good- excellent, in fact. When Jehan pulled away, her mouth dropped open. He grinned somewhat dazedly, and ran his hand through his hair, eyes sparkling with the familiar mischief. That was kind of reassuring, especially considering how strangely he'd been acting before- no, the rakish-pirate, kiss-stealing, lady-killer Jehan was an altogether entirely familiar creature.

"What I was _about_ to say," he said,"was that I was thinking about you."

He stole another kiss and sauntered off into the darkness, grinning as he heard her call after him.

"Hey, come back here, jerk, if you're man enough! No-one steals a kiss from Tor of Linphea and goes away with his {CENSORED} still attached-!"

His laughter rang out, soft and warm and sparkling like the one-too-many glass of champagne in the darkness. Jehan could hear the challenge in her voice, cutting through the buzz thrilling through his system. Tor growled again, and footsteps hastened after him. An vice-like grip clamped around his wrist and he turned, crashing front first into Tor. Her other hand snaked across the back of his neck, and he felt his face getting flaming; Tor's body pressed against the entire length of his body, and she was so close he could smell her clean, spicy Tor smell.

Her fingers tangled into his hair, forcing him to lean to her level- granted, it wasn't much, but it had the desired impact.

"Bitch," she hissed, "it's _on_."

He nodded mutely as Tor's lips crashed into his.

_Oh, it's definitely on_.

* * *

><p><strong>Yo. This is Cass of AndrosTides/Somewhere. It even has me confused...**

**Nickname:** My full name is Cassia Evanthe, so a couple of people have tried to call me things like Sia, Anthea, and Evvy. Generally it goes back to either Evan or Cass, but Evan gets people thinking that I'm a guy. So, awkward.

**Favourite Food:** Butter chicken with garlic naan, and home-made tofu combination hot-pot. Home-made tofu is really nice, you know? I like seaweed, too, and chicken caesar salad, but only sometimes.

**Favourite Colour:** This is a tough one. Hmm, maybe blue-green? Or aqua, or mint green.

**Favourite Hobby:** Swimming, surfing, mini-golf, riding roller-coasters, clubbing, and yes, I list flirting as a hobby on the off chance that I actually do it.

**Favourite Pet:** Uh, fish? Probably a nice, big Atlantic salmon. Any time you feel peckish, well, here's your solution.

**Ideal Boyfriend:** Dunno. Just that they can't have a butt-chin, an unnecessary cape, or a side-kick. And that they also can't be grotesquely muscular, as if they'd stuffed basketballs under their skin.

**Best Friends:** Miss Angry Aerin and Mr. Can't Be Bothered Twin Brother.

**Favourite Movies:** My Spoon Is Too Big. No, I'm kidding, really. I dunno. I guess I like epic/myth type movies and science fiction I guess.

**Loves:** Tie-dye, swimming, kicking back and relaxing, holidays, sleeping, the sound of rain.

**Hates:** Hmm. Let me think about this. I guess butt-chins, antagonistic witches, seeing my friends and family getting hurt or experiencing emotional distress.

**Favourite Music:** Slow jazz, jazz improvisation, acoustic indie music.

**Favourite Shoes:** … Is this a trick question? If so, then the answer is NNASO. If not, then it's gladiator sandals, other assorted flats and hiking boots.

**Favourite Subject:** Anything except elective Etiquette and Deportment. The teacher from that class could make a tsunami sound as dry as a sermon.

**Favourite Spell:** Seismic Split- it makes a fissure in the ground that enemies can conveniently fall into. Clean, neat and tidy, as it's pretty easy to close up. And if you do it in an agricultural area, then there's the bonus of free fertiliser.

**Catchphrase:** Really? A catchphrase. Huh. If I actually had one, it's be something like, 'If curves make a bombshell, then I'm freaking atomic'.


	7. Chapter 7

**7: Screaming Flying Demons (Bodies Sold Separately)**

"Alright, girls," Aerin said. "Attention!"

The girls snapped to, saluting their commanding officer.

"Alright. We'll cover the west and east wings from top floor to bottom, outside in, in two divisions. Raze, Phoenix and Jake will take the west wing while Cass, Tor and I will cover the west. Once we converge on the front hall we'll cover it and converge to deal south wing before we proceed onto the main hall and finish with the kitchens," Aerin instructed, indicating her battle plan. "if we tackle this strategically and methodically, there's no way we can fail. Soldiers, move out!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" they shouted, saluting again and marching off. Raze, Phoenix and Jake ascended the sweeping grand staircase before turning into the more mundane spiral stairwells. They passed the first level classrooms and then the second, emerging on the third-floor dorm block. Raze looked down the corridor and sighed.

"This shouldn't be _too_ bad...?" she said, almost framing the statement like a question. True enough, the corridor wasn't extremely unkempt. It was just the fact that it was, well, a _long_ sort of corridor that really clinched it for the girls. Phoenix opened the cupboard full of cleaning supplies and wheeled out a trolley piled with spray bottles.

"It smells," she said, holding her nose. Jake stumbled out with an armful of mops, brooms and dusters, while Raze searched for cleaning cloths or a vacuum cleaner.

"This is going to a be a long night," Jake muttered, picking up a bucket and turning on the tap just inside the storeroom. She plunged a mop into the bucket and set to work.

"Well, at least we don't have to go to that horrible Down City Concert," Phoenix called, industriously sweeping away at the dirt and grit on the hallway floor. "To think if we'd had to sit through two and a half hours of the so-called music that those pop screechers belt out these days. One act, it's about getting drunk, and the next, it's rainbows and sparkles and unicorns again. It's bloody ridiculous, and that's not even with the screaming and squealing of the girls in the mosh pit."

Jake grinned as she listened to Phoenix's irate tirade. There was a wet splash and and Raze set to work mopping the floors.

"I know a song that gets on your nerves, gets on your nerves, gets on your nerves, I know a song that gets on your nerves at it goes something like this," Raze sang under her breath. "Hit it, Phoenix!"

"_Mo- raburabu ni nacchate- Oukaku maku tsuppacchatte- Kyouretsu na a__ji ni buttonde- Toushindai no ura omote_," Phoenix belted, smashing the tongue-twisting chorus of Ura-Omote Lovers into eight pitch-perfect seconds. "Jake!"

"My baby's off, yeah, he's shootin' tigers- My baby, he's such a fuckin' liar, my baby, boo yeah, I'm looking for a 192020, 192020," Jake caterwauled, singing into her feather duster, "Raze!"

"This one is for the boys with the boomin' system, top down, AC with the coolin' system, when he come up in the club, he be blazin' up, got stacks on deck like he savin' up," Raze rapped, "Phoenix!"

The cycle continued through again and again, and before they realised it, they were at the end of corridor, down the stairs and half-way along the second floor.

"We will, we will, rock you!" Phoenix belted. She stopped and twirled her broom. "Y'know, this would sound a heap better with Aerin's grungy sounding guitar- what was it, the 1956 Les Paul Junior, or was it the-?"  
>"No, I think it was the Ibanez X-Series Glaive," Raze replied, "We should do our own gig in the grand hall once we finish up cleaning-"<p>

"-if we ever finish, standing around gabbing like this," Jake said, squirting some Windex onto her cleaning cloth. "Let's get back to work!"

A black flicker flashed up the corridor, zooming up the staircase with a swishy whoosh kind of noise.

"Huh?" Jake murmured. A cold breeze ghosted down the corridor, and Phoenix stopped humming the tune of 'Like A G6', eyes flicking down the corridor.

"That was weird," Raze muttered, gripping her mop more firmly.

The lights flickered and died.

* * *

><p>Aerin stared down the corridor, a broom clenched in each hand. The lights flickered again, and a black shadow streaked down the corridor.<p>

"This is getting weird," Tor said. "I keep seeing black shapes."

"Me too," Cass said. "It can't be just us going bonkers, can it?"

"For some reason," Aerin said, "I don't think that's it."

Aerin waved down the corridor. The flashing black shapes were congregating, concentrating and reforming, twisting together like wisps of smoke to form an almost tangible form.

The lights flickered and died, and a whistling roar blasted down the corridor.

"Break for it!" Aerin shouted. A fierce wind buffeted them, trailing from the projectile which had launched itself down the corridor in the first place. Wind roared down the enclosed corridor, screaming up and down the stairwell and twisting into a sucking vortex as the girls struggled to break free of the the force of the wind. Cass grabbed Tor's hand and ran, straining to hear Aerin's footsteps above the howling gale. The vortex screamed and swooped at them, and Cass recoiled. Aerin screamed.

"Aerin!" Tor shouted. Cass echoed her and barely made out the sound of Aerin's shouted reply.

"Come on, girl!" she shouted. "Run for it!"

Twisting, ghostly fingers pinched and twisted at her clothes, tugging her closer into the wind's embrace. Cass yelled, mainly just to hear her own voice, and concentrated on the crushing grip Tor had on her hand, but all that filled her senses was the sound of air whistling past them, shrieking manically. The screaming wasn't just screaming- there was hissing, growling, nails on chalkboard, and noises like pipes rattling and bursting under pressure. When and where in time had the corridor suddenly become endless? There was so much wind and noise and force buffeting them back and forth that their run had slowed to a jog, to a fast walk, and now, a straining, struggling crawl. So much wind, and her skin had turned to ice; there was no air left to _breathe_-

"Cass! Tor!" Aerin shouted. "Where are you guys? Cass? Tor? Please, guys, answer me-!"

"Aerin, over here!"

"I can't see anything!"

Something warm and heavy crashed into Cass' back, and she lashed out automatically, feeling her backhand connect with flesh. A brief cry of pain, and Aerin smacked her right back.

"Oh," Cass shouted over the din, "Sorry, didn't know it was you!"

A grip of steel closed over her free hand as Aerin growled. "Coulda' fooled me, dunderhead."

"Let's get out of here," Tor shouted back, charging ahead. The terrible shrieking wind moaned and increased in volume, but its force seemed to be dying away. The vortex couldn't keep its grip on them, and Tor dragged Cass free. With a gargantuan effort, they both yanked Aerin free of the vortex. The column of air shrieked and swooped at them, but they dodged it and took off down the corridor.

Sliding around the corner, they slid down the bannister of the sweeping stairs, leaping across the foyer and down the corridor leading to the great hall.

"Faragonda's office," Aerin panted, "We need to get to her office."

"What?" Cass gasped, spotting the vortex out of the corner of her eye.

"Coms. Phones," she shouted back. "Call Faragonda, Griselda, the boys, _anybody_-"

"The boys would probably be pretty helpful-" Tor said.

The vortex noises decreased in volume to a low, grating roar. The girls lowed to a fast jog, hands still clasped around each others. Aerin gasped.

"Tor, Cass," she said softly, footsteps slowing to nothing.

"What?"

"Duck. Duck now."

"Why?" Tor whispered. Aerin pointed slowly, and Tor's eyes widened. Cass's jaw dropped open.

Rounding the corner, floating in the air and completely unattached to any human body, was a _head_. The head opened its mouth, revealing an ugly slash of a mouth bristling with row upon row of jagged teeth surrounded by unnaturally red lips. The head's eyes widened, bulging and rolling outward. The girls froze, not daring to move. The eyes rolled wildly and focused on them. The head's grin grew, reaching from ear to ear.

Several things happened in the next second. The head opened its mouth and belted out an awful, wailing scream, swooping at them with its jagged teeth bared and red lips distended horribly. Aerin screamed.

"_Nukekubi! Run!"_

* * *

><p>Raze lashed out with her mop and grunted as she felt the jolt running down her arm when she connected. Yowling, the screaming head she'd hit crashed into the wall and careened wildly, dazed by the blow. Raze only had a few seconds to dwell before she lifted her mop for another swing, savagely smashing into two more of the flying heads. Phoenix bellowed and squirted Windex into one of the heads' eyes. The head recoiled, shrieking terribly. Jake swatted another away and shoved her feather duster into its mouth. Raze smashed two others across the corridor and grabbed a third by the hair. She recoiled as it snapped at her and she tightened her grip before plunging it into the bucket of soapy mop water. The head's garbled shrieking could be heard from under the water as it bubbled and churned.<p>

Phoenix yelled out at Jake and Jake whirled, roundhouse kicking at the flying demon head screeching after her.

"They recover too fast!" Phoenix panted, swinging wildly at another one of the flying heads. It shook itself and zoomed back into the fray.

"We need to break for the weapons store," Raze yelled, connecting with three heads and sending them tumbling backward through the air. They all knew what she was talking about. Since the unprecedented attacks on Alfea in the years that their mothers had been at school, the incidence of magical exhaustion and depletion from hard fighting had increased. Mass power damping had also taken place on several occasions, prompting the creation of a weapons store, stocked with items with which could be used to defend oneself.

"Good idea," Jake shouted over the screaming of the head she had most recently attacked.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

Phoenix broke into a headlong charge down the hall, still spraying cleaning chemicals in the faces of the attacking demons. Raze let out a savage war-cry, and tore down the hallway with her mop spinning wilding above her head. Heads went flying into the ceiling and walls, while Jake swung at any demons in her way.

"Where're Tor, Cass and Aerin?" Raze shouted.

"I don't know!"

"No coms, remember?"

"Ah, shit!"

The emergency weapons store wasn't too far away, tucked out of plain view under the grand staircase. Raze swung her mop and clipped the drunkenly weaving soap-sudsy demon-head. The demon-head hissed, spitting soapy water and shaking itself like a dog. Phoenix pulled ahead, sprinting flat out for the weapons store, spraying chemicals at the stray demon-heads. Once she reached the door, she jiggled at the door handle and swore when it refused to turn. Locked. She yanked a bobby-pin from her hair and ducked swiftly as a two of the nukekubi swooped at her. They collided in mid-air and fell to the ground, tongues lolling and eyes rolling. Phoenix kicked them, hard, into the opposite corner of the entrance hall. Jake shrieked, swinging wildly as they converged on her. Raze ripped a swathe out of the flock of nukekubi as best as she could. Phoenix poked her bobby pin into the lock mechanism and swore as she struggled to jiggle it free.

"Come on, come on," she muttered, yanking on the door handle harshly. "Oh, please, open up!"

She wrapped both hands around the door handle and braced her foot against the door, prepared to force the door if she had to.

Jake yelled. One of the nukekubi had bitten down on her forearm. Raze knocked it free, and Jake whimpered. The semicircular wound leaked blood from multiple cuts. Another demon-head raked Raze's thigh as it swooped low with its mouth open and distended horribly. Raze cried out, and jabbed the end of her mop-handle into its nose. With a sickening crack, the demon-head began to bleed. Its screaming redoubled in fury.

"Come on, come on," Phoenix muttered, throat beginning to feel tight. She turned and ducked the oncoming onslaught of nukekubi demons, closing her eyes and lashing out wildly into the roiling mass of snapping teeth. She needed to keep it together. These things were _dangerous_- Desperate, she tried the handle again. Her vision was blurring, and she cursed her body's reaction to the situation.

"Come on, come _on_ come _ON_!"

The door glowed blue and sent out a concussive pulse of energy, blowing the nukekubi outwards. They reeled, tumbling nose over neck in the air, squawking in confusion, too stunned and disoriented to continue their attack on Raze, Jake and Phoenix. Raze and Jake immediately raced at the door, which swung open obediently. They girls dove into the room just as the nukekubi shook themselves out of their daze and launched themselves at the door. The door slammed shut with a metallic clang and a volley of dull _whumph_s as the flying heads collided with the door. There was another volley of thuds as the demons rammed the door again and again.

"Stupid heads," Raze muttered, turning to look around the emergency weapons store. Jake flicked the switch with her good arm and harsh white strip lighting illuminated the weapons store brightly. It was bigger than any of them expected, with everything from war hammers to AK-47s and shoulder-mounted force was a shelf full of first aid kits, including healing salve and bandages. Raze helped Jake as Phoenix slid down the wall like a raindrop, panting.

"You okay?" Raze called softly, wrapping a white bandage around Jake's arm. Phoenix nodded, closing her eyes for a moment.

"It's just-" she started, "-we don't have our powers this time."

Raze rolled her eyes and gestured expansively at the racks of weapons. She tied off Jake's bandage and slowly peeled off her shredded jeans, slapping healing salve onto her graze and wrapping it with the rest of the left-over bandages. Jake tied it off for her and helped her pull her jeans back up. Raze thanked her luck stars that she'd worn slouchy boyfriend jeans and not the spray-on jeggings she'd been thinking about.

"C'mere, Phoenix," Raze said. "Let me check you over."

She nodded and got up, approaching the taller girl. Raze checked her over from all angles and nodded, seeing no visible injury. Jake pulled on one of the weapons harnesses, sliding two phantoblades into the back sheaths and slotting three throwing daggers into the sheaths over each hip. She decided to slot two energy guns into their loops and tucked spare magazines into the straps crossing over her chest. Completing her arsenal were two spin grenades, a pocket hoverboard and a retractable shield.

"Whoa there, pocket rocket," Raze said, "if you load yourself up any further you'll fall on your face."

"Come on," Phoenix said, hauling the other girl to her feet. "Let's arm ourselves."

Phoenix chose a weapons harness and leg strapping, sliding in two knives along the outside of her thighs, picking up a crossbow and a few throwing knives . She picked up a nodachi and slid it into her weapons harness, also grabbing a quiver full of crossbow bolts. Raze hefted a phantoblade axe, and swung it experimentally before returning it to its rack with a somewhat unsatisfied expression. She picked up an energy-blade glaive and grinned. She slid a short sword into her weapons belt, picking up a brace of throwing stars and a pair of gauntlets.

"There's no sense in charging out now," Jake finally muttered, inspecting her phantoblades. Phoenix shook her head, sitting on one of the steel benches pushed against the wall.

"I wish we had our coms up," Raze growled, banging her fist against the wall. "We have no idea where Cass, Tor and Aerin are. The flying demon heads could be chasing after them again, 'cause I sure as hell don't hear them yowling their heads off outside."

"Well, let's just wait. The door's still going to hold. There's no point in jeopardising our relative safety at the moment," Phoenix said. Jake nodded.

They settled down to wait.

* * *

><p>"Stand back!" Tor yelled.<p>

_BAM!_

The door flew off its hinges and Tor dragged Aerin into the office as Cass swung at the nukekubi mobbing them from behind. Aerin screeched and turned, stumbling as Tor dragged her onward.

"Come on, this door shouldn't be locked!" Aerin yelled, forcing the door open and tearing into the office. She bolted for Faragonda's desk as Cass slammed the door shut, holding it closed as the nukekubi rammed it, squawking. Tor slammed her hand into the com button and punched in Tyler's number.

"Pick up, you stupid dunce, if you ever pick up your phone it's gotta be now," she growled. Cass grunted, straining to keep the door shut. Aerin pushed a wing chair over to the door, and shoved it in front, holding the door shut. Cass heaved a pot plant across, barricading the door shut. The nukekubi howled. Tor slammed her hand on the com again, swearing under her breath.

"Pick up, pick up," she snarled.

"'Ello?" Tyler said, face appearing on the com-screen. Caspian and Jehan bobbed in the background, shouting things at a television screen.

"Tyler, we have nukekubi on our tail and we don't know what happened to Raze, Phoenix and Jake. You need to come to Alfea, right now, okay, bring your weapons and your levabikes and everything-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," Tyler said. "What's wrong?"

"Nukekubi, lots of them," Tor growled. "And what's probably a vortex demon. I'm serious, Tyler, we need you here."

"N-Nukekubi?"

"I just said that!"

Aerin yelled, "Hurry up, Tor! We can't hold the door forever!"

The nukekubi yowled furiously, banging against the door with renewed fervour. Tyler yelped and yelled back into the room behind him.

"Get of your asses, guys! There's nukekubi at Alfea-!"

"-nukekubi? Don't yank my chain-"

"-I'm serious!"

"Nukekubi? What else is there?"

"Vortex demon-"

"Holy shit, that is some _serious_-"

"Would you just stop yakking and _get down here_? Don't even try the corridors. Just come up the window side of Faragonda's office," Tor shouted. Tyler jumped and nodded.

"Going now."

The com-screen went black.

"Come on over," Cass called, " We kind of need some more stuff to barricade with. Sounds like the vortex demon is out there."

There was sudden quiet; the vortex demon's whoosh escalated into a shriek and nukekubi screams followed. Projectiles assailed the barricaded door in a rapid fire stream, and Tor nearly laughed when she heard the pained yowling of the nukekubi heads.

"Serves 'em right," Cass grunted, shoving the wing chair aside as Aerin dragged over a small bookshelf. She pushed it across the door, and Cass shoved the wing chair, coffee table, ottoman, pot plant and filing cabinet.

The nukekubi screeched and the vortex demon howled, as if sensing that they'd been thwarted. Aerin slid down the wall, taking stock of her bruises and scrapes. Despite their precariously close shave with the demon-heads, they had come away fairly unscathed. Cass grunted with the effort of shifting the filing cabinet and bent over, panting. Tor went back to Faragonda's communications panel. She raked over the various knobs, switches and buttons, but they were all labelled in Runic, and not just any Runic, but High Ancient Altraverian Runic to boot.

"Stupid control panel," she muttered, "Get with the freaking times. _No-one _uses High Ancient Altraverian Runic anymore-"

"Don't diss the Runic," Aerin interrupted. Tor rolled her eyes.

"We're holed up in Ms. F's office with flying demon heads wanting to detach our heads from our bodies and all you can worry about is whether or not Tor's dissing the Runic?" Cass demanded. Aerin nodded seriously, frowning. Cass slapped her hand to her forehead.

"I guess we just wait, then-"

Just as the words left her mouth, the roar of levabike engines filtered through the glass of Faragonda's floor to ceiling windows. Headlights shone blindingly bright into the room; Cass shielded her eyes as Aerin flinched. Tor scanned the panel of buttons for something that might signal a window control. Aerin got up, rolling her eyes, and slammed her palm into the button next to the left edge of the window. The middle section of the windows slowly lifted open, and the levabikes slid through as soon as the gap was big enough to safely admit their riders. The first rider to descend jumped off even before the levabike had finished landing, ripping off his helmet and throwing his arms around Tor.

"Are you okay? No bites? Did the vortex get you anywhere?" Tyler asked, checking his twin sister over. Tor shook her head.

"No, I'm just a bit beat up," she said. "Occupational hazard."

"The door's barricaded well and good," Winter said, inspecting Cass and Aerin's handiwork. "We'll probably have to go out by the window again. Then you can bunker down in RF with us or something-"

"No," Cass interrupted, "Raze, Jake and Phoenix are still out there."

"What?" Raziel asked softly, sounding a little bit shocked.

"We have no clue where they are. I don't know if the monsters are going after them, or if they've bunkered down somewhere, or if they've snuck off to the concert, which seems unlikely, 'cause Phoenix hates the shit they pass for pop music these days-"

"The nukekubi are after you, so there's a good chance that they're going for the others, too," Raziel replied, cutting her off. Tor's eyebrows rose. The normally soft-spoken Raziel had a hard edge to his voice, peaking on the word _nukekubi_ as if it left a particularly distasteful tang in his mouth.

"Assuming that the nukekubi _are _ attacking the others, are there any bunkers or safe areas where they'd seek cover?" Raziel continued. Tor frowned, mouth twisting.

"There's the weapons store," Cass said. The air was still and silent, until the wailing of the vortex demon and the nukekubi arose once more in an unholy clamour. Jehan jerked. Tyler's mouth turned down and he slid a retracted phantoblade from his weapons belt, handing it to Tor. Caspian tossed a telescopic double-bladed staff at Cass, which she caught one handed. He palmed his own retracted scimitar as Tor swung the midnight blue hand and a half longsword experimentally.

"Hmm," she muttered, "Balanced, good weight; solid, by the looks of it. Not exactly my colour, but it'll do."

Tyler rolled his eyes.

"Hmm. Nice," Aerin murmured, hefting a pair of phantoblade sais.

"C'mon. We need to get in and get out, _fast_," Tyler said, climbing onto his bike. Tor swung her legs over the levabike as Cass climbed onto her brother's bike. Aerin hitched a ride with Winter, sliding her sais out. Tyler kicked his levabike into life and zoomed out the window. Tor reflexively grabbed onto her brother as the sudden acceleration threatened to blow her away. Tyler banked sharply, turning around the corner of the east wing. Winter gunned the engine as Aerin swore at him, accelerating to pull ahead of Tyler. The Specialists' levabikes rounded the east wing and approached the front doors in a V-formation.

"Alright," Jehan called, holding up a hand. They rest of the boys stopped abruptly, engines dying away to a faint hum.

"Nukekubi, as you all know, are nasty creatures, so we have to go in fast and be prepared to fight our way out."

"Are you sure we'll be able to outgun them and a vortex demon? Vortex demons are near indestructible, and nukekubi are hard to pin in a pinch," Winter called.

"It's just going to be in, out and away if we go in on our bikes," Caspian argued.

"Don't think too hard," Cass interrupted.

"Alright, then," Caspian said, grinning. Cass stared at him.

"I don't like the look of that," she said slowly. Caspian's grin grew, white teeth flashing in the dark.

"Trust me," he said, "You really don't."

That was when he let the engine rip into high gear.

* * *

><p>There wasn't even time for a scream before the wind snatched the breath right out of her mouth. Two of the levabikes accelerated sharply and barrelled toward the doors, turning sharply at the last minute as their riders kicked the doors open.<p>

Then they were in the thick of it, swarmed by snapping nukekubi heads as they barrelled into the shrieking mob. Cass twisted the grip of the staff and the twin blades sprung from the ends, tearing across the faces of the nukekubi demons swooping at them from all directions. Cass grasped the staff with both hands and spun it, whirling the staff in the air like a helicopter blade. Nukekubi flew in all directions. Tor yelled and gave one of the screaming demons a thumping great whack across the face. It shrieked, and shook itself, flying at her with redoubled fury. Tor gasped, and Jehan whacked demon away. Kaien did a helicopter blade manoeuvre with his bo staff, yelling as the nukekubi evaded his swipes and swarmed at him. Raziel grabbed one by the hair and twirled it above his head like a set of bolas before letting fly and sending it hurtling into a clump of its brethren.

"They're not staying down!" Tyler shouted. He accelerated and Tor launched herself off the bike, tucking and rolling as she hit the ground hard. Caspian growled and launched himself after her, scimitar raised to strike down the demons on her back. Tor lashed out with her great sword, and pounded on the door of the weapons store.

"Open up!" she shouted. "Phoenix! Raze, Jake! Are you guys in there?"

There was silence, then the clanging of metal on metal, running footsteps and a muffled, "Stand back!"

Tor leapt out of the way as the door all but exploded outward. Raze knelt in the doorway, sighting for a second before she opened fire with her shoulder mounted energy cannon. The nukekubi shrieked and dodged out of the way as Winter banked sharply to avoid her fire. Raze leapt to her feet, and Phoenix followed, loading a crossbow bolt into the clip and firing. The bolt detonated on impact with one of the demon-heads, exploding in an orb of blue fire. Aerin yelled and gunned the afterburners, swerving wildly to direct the jets at the swarming nukekubi as Winter made a daredevil leap across to Cass's levabike. Cass positioned herself carefully, but the levabike jolted and bucked when the extra weight hit it. Its sensors and de-gravity engines misfired and righted themselves, almost sending the two tumbling through the air. Cass cursed nastily and slammed the end of her bo staff down the nukekubi's gullet. She grimaced as it emerged from the air where an oespohagus would otherwise continue into the stomach. She braced her foot against the wildly snapping head and ripped her staff free, yanking out several of its shark-like teeth. The nukekubi shook itself, and grinned, teeth moving forward, reshuffling, sliding around in the demon's mouth, snapping and gnashing, lurching toward her- Winter lashed out, sending a concealed throwing dagger flying at the demon. It shrieked and twisted, but the dagger speared it through the cartilage of its ear and pinned it to the wall. It howled, raising an unholy racket and the rest of the girls and boys struggled to fend off their multitudinous attackers.

"They're regenerating? They're-!"

"There's too many of 'em! And they aren't flagging-"

"These are _nukekubi_! They shouldn't be swarming like this!"

"The only way to kill a nukekubi is to destroy its body!" Raziel shouted, staving off the attack of the swooping demons. Raze slammed the door open and gestured wildly.

"Get in here!" she shouted, slashing through the air with her glaive. The darkness seemed to multiply exponentially, and the nukeubi seemed to regenerate at an impossible rate. The one that had taken the blast of Phoenix's shot screamed and swooped, teeth exposed, at Jehan. Jehan grunted and swiped at it but it dodged, lightning-fast, correcting its flight path so that it was on a collision course with Caspian.

"Caspian-!" Cass roared, gunning the engine. Aerin's levabike lurched forward, while Tor ran, throwing herself into a tackle at Caspian. Three of the writhing nukekubi slammed into her, sending her crashing into the wall.

Caspian turned, and the nukekubi's teeth sank into his skin of his neck.

Somehow, through the blood ringing in their ears and the howling threnody of the nukekubi, they all heard his soft gasp of surprise.

* * *

><p>Hi This is Jehan. Apparently, Phoenix forwarded this to Raziel and told him to forward it to me 'cause she didn't have my email address. So, I'm filling this thing out, even though it feel eerily like I'm doing something for a fan magazine, or a tabloid... I have my doubts.<p>

Nickname: I've had a lot of ridiculous nicknames over the two years after I got my big break. Most of them, I don't even want to think about. So please, just call me Jehan.

Favourite Food: Um, whatever's hot and delicious and on hand at the time. There's this saying that everything tastes good when you're starving? Yeah. I'm the poster child for that saying.

Favourite Colour: I don't know the name of it, but the nice, warm, happy colour of the brass on dragon tack. [Shut up, Tyler. Yes, I described the brass on dragon tack as happy. Do you have a problem with that? Oh, so you want to solve it on the practice courts? No, I didn't think so.]

Favourite Hobby: Dragon-riding, aerobatics, eating, sleeping, messing with Tyler, reading, poking people, putting bows in Tyler's hair when he's asleep and taking blackmail pictures, drinking tea and throwing coins into wishing wells.

Favourite Pet: Dragons. I mean, duh.

Ideal Girlfriend: Someone I can talk to, who's tall, but still fits under my chin- someone who's stubborn, heck, even a little bit temperamental, just as long as they understand me.

Best Friends: The Linphean twins and Winter, but I'm pretty much buddy-buddy with all of the guys and girls (it's a bit on and off with Aerin, though. I mean, she really makes it hard to be a friend .;;). What can I say? I like people.

Favourite Movies: The alien one with the crop circles, with Joaquin Phoenix and Mel Gibson.

Loves: Messing with the Linphean twins, and of course, my dragon Lupo.

Hates: I have these girls, see, who like to trail around and write fanfictions of me doing...things...with various other...guys...sometimes at the same time... Recently they've been shipping me with...[What? Speak louder, boy, I can't hear ya!]...Winter...Look, it was just a photo shoot, and the girl who was supposed to model with me got arrested for underage drink driving, and I'd dragged Winter along so he could take a break from his brothers and sisters, and one thing led to another until the stylists had us stripped to the waist- [Shut up, already, Jehan, you don't think that was embarrassing for me, too? This is Winter, and no, Jehan and I are not a thing.]

Favourite Music: 'A nightingale in a golden cage, that's me locked inside reality's maze. Come, someone, make my heavy heart light, come undone: bring me back to life.' The Escapist is basically my favourite song, ever. In the whole universe. Even if the universe went kaput, it would still be my favourite song.

Favourite Shoes: Are you asking this for kicks, or something? I honestly don't know, but boots, probably. Tough ones.

Favourite Subject: Uh, Mounted Aerobatics and Tactics. Careful planning can get you the advantage.

Favourite Attack: The Barrel Roll Bitch Slap. A thunking great smack with the flat of your weapon while barrel-rolling on your dragon, guaranteed to lift your opponent clear of the ground and fling them at least into the nearest wall.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hi guyss, sorry for the long break between updates. I've been working on posting art for Bloodlines on Deviantart, so check out the link on my profile. Thanks for bearing with me and my writer's-block-iness. Baby, over and out. **


	8. Chapter 8

**8: A New Meaning to Achingly Beautiful**

"Come on, Aerin!" Cass yelled, "What, are you just going sit there while my brother bleeds to death? Get the freak on with it-!"

"We can't hold the door for forever!"

"Barricade it, then!"

"But we'd be trapped!"

"Aerin-!"

"-you're doing the base pattern all wrong!"

"-let me try-"

Aerin's bloody hands curled into shaking fists as she shut her eyes and shouted, "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut _up_! There _is_ no freaking base pattern because _I can't do this_! _I just can't_!"

They all stopped and stared at her as she stared at her shaking fists, before she clenched them and swiftly tied the bandages around his neck and shoulder. Caspian moaned softly, wincing as Aerin yanked viciously on the cotton wrappings.

"Rin?" he mumbled fuzzily, "Wuss' goin' on? Wha' wi' all th' noise-"

"Shut up!" she hissed. "Just shut up and don't move, alright?"

Tor handed her a syringe fitted with a hypodermic needle, filled with clear aqua liquid.

"Regeneration serum," Tor said. "Go on."

Aerin carefully slid the needle through the skin of his wrist and pushed down the plunger. He winced again with the sting of the serum.

"I' try," he mumbled.

Winter leaned heavily on the door, growling.

"They're stronger than they look," he yelled back as the dull shock of the nukekubi's impacts on the door shivered through his bones.

"I'm trying to get a connection, but my phone can't get a hold of a signal," Tyler said, jabbing at his phone.

"I don't know what to do to your phone, alright!" Tor growled, grabbing Kaien's arm. "You have a phone?"

"Yeah, but even though I have a signal, how likely is it that Good Old Faragonda has a phone on her with a non-protected number? If she didn't, parents would be blowing up her phone like they knew her-"

"Give me your phone," Raziel said. "It's intergalactic, right? I can call my sister and she'll put me through to my grandma."

"And your grandma has _what_ to do with this exactly?"

"She went to school with Ms. Faragonda," he replied, grabbing Kaien's phone and punching in a string of numbers. Raze shed her jacket and balled it up, handing it Aerin. She gently shifted Caspian's head off her lap and placed the jacket underneath it. Phoenix tossed a pair of guns with smooth, bulky cylindrical barrels at Tor, who snatched them out of the air and slid them into the holsters on her weapons harness. Compared to Jake, at least, she was only lightly armed with a hip sheath for Tyler's borrowed phantoblade, the holsters and a knife in a leg-sheath.

"Ah, Anachel," Raziel began, but was cut off by a very loud screech.

"Don't you Anachel me, mister! What is the meaning behind this, you bloody, blooming piss-artist?"

"Don't throw slang at me, Anachel, you_ dasai_, I need to talk to Baba, okay?"

"You yanking my chain, _hana pecha_? How to bloody hell do I get Grandma to the phone? You know she sleeps like the dead-"

"Anachel! What is that racket-?"

"Mom!"

"Raziel, what are you doing-"

"Mom, before you start screaming, yes, there's a reason, yes, it's a good one, and no, it's not just paranoia, yes, I need Grandma, and no, it's nukekubi-"

There was a loud bang, like a door slamming open

"Ah, Haruka! Prepare yourself!" A strident tone blasted through the phone speakers, and there was hurried shuffling and an exclamation of surprise.

"Baba? What on _earth_ are you wearing?" Anachel shrieked.

"Okaasan, wait-"

The phone died as the lights cut out.

Someone shrieked (Tor couldn't tell if it was Tyler or Phoenix, but it was one of the two) as a whirling funnel of glowing blue light swirled into existence. Tiny aqua motes of light blinked in and out of existence as the swirling funnel rose up and out into the form of small, wrinkled woman sporting a ridiculously massive headdress and a staff with a blue crystal orb topping one end.

She propped her hands on her hips as the lights cut back on again, fixing Raziel with a beady-eyed stare. Raziel blinked in astonishment, before hurriedly bowing from the waist as the woman's eyes narrowed. Too fast to even see, she reached up and slapped a yellow prayer paper to his forehead, where it stuck, quivering in agitation as the small black characters inscribed upon it rapidly wrote and rewrote themselves. He stumbled backward, unprepared for the forceful application of the protective spell.

The tiny granny-lady marched up to the door, pushing up her sleeves and waving her magician's staff. Winter was dragged aside by an invisible force, and he gaped, mouth moving up and down soundlessly. He finally regained the ability to speak and turned in Raziel's direction.

Flailing against the invisible forces restraining him, Winter yelled, "Is she mad?"

Raziel shook his head, prayer paper fluttering. "No. Grandma knows what she's doing."

The door creaked open and the nukekubi fell silent as Raziel's grandmother waved her staff. A magic circle had appeared on the ground around her, throwing glowing rays of blue light up into the darkness. The nukekubi shrieked and shied away from the glowing fingers of light. The woman's headdress quivered, and she pointed her staff at the nukekubi. The orb at the end of her staff seemed to absorb light from the magic circle, building itself up to a nearly blinding light.

She said something, and thousands of yellow prayer papers rushed at the nukekubi, covering their eyes, mouths, and hair until all that could be seen where flying, shrieking masses of prayer papers. She shouted a word of power that made their ears pop as the prayer papers ignited violently and the nukeubi howled. The ball of flame exploded outward and rained ash upon the grand foyer.

"I think it's okay to come out," Raze muttered, peering out of the weapons bunker cautiously.

"You said your grandma went to school with Faragonda," Winter muttered, aghast.

"-and I forgot to mention that she's an exorcist...?" Raziel muttered sheepishly, peering past his prayer paper.

"And you forgot to mention this, how?"

"Well, every body knew on Elion Evaais-"

"You know what, Raziel? Just shut up."

Tor whistled, staring at the mangled mess of what used to be Tyler's levabike. It looked like the Eraklyon royal family's pet griffin had used the poor thing for a chew-toy, though she knew that that was not the case. Tyler stood beside her, and echoed her whistle. She could already hear the calculations he was making in his head. _Is it salvageable? Geez, I hope the para-molecular quartile accelerator isn't shot... It needs new lights, but hot damn, if they killed the de-gravitational force generator- Well, at least the afterburner's fine...Maybe I should just __buy a new bike?_

"You better hope the para-molecular quartile accelerator isn't shot. Or the bolt discharge driver-relocator," she pointed out helpfully. Tyler swore as his bike sparked and fizzled.

"Maybe it _is_ shot," he conceded. Tor grimaced.

"Those things are_ expensive_."

"Is it really all clear, or should I just bunker down?" Phoenix called quietly, wincing and peeking out of the weapons store tentatively.

"No, I think it's really an all-clear..." Raziel started. The front doors opened, and the lights flicked on. Faragonda and Griselda took one look at the ash cloud still raining on the twelve students plus grandmother as the rest of the Alfea girls rushed through, eager to get back to their suites. They stopped dead, realising with some swooning/blushing/fainting/perversion that there were a bunch of hot guys with weapons standing in_ their_ entrance hall. The fact that Winter's shirt had been ripped open all the way down the front by vicious nukekubi teeth didn't help. Neither did Jehan's ripped off sleeves and Tyler's lack of upper garment all together.

The floor was still scorched and smoking from the residual burn of Raziel's grandmother's magic circle when the vortex demon decided that it should make a timely and much desired appearance. Aerin made an expression that was part-way between a scowl and a grimace. If that thing had balls, she would have kicked them.

The ancient exorcist's magic circle sprang back into immediate life as she hurled a bolt of blue fire at the vortex demon. Faragonda's pale rose-coloured magical attack swirled around it, twisting around the demon in a vortex of fire. The lights from the magic circle fed into the pillar of fire as it squeezed in and elongated, crushing the vortex demon out of existence.

The Alfea girls stopped dead as Griselda signalled for them to keep back. The junior girls and the seniors complied with practised ease, while the freshies made to bolt and scatter. Faragonda lowered her outstretched hands and practically glowed with excitement. Raziel's small and wrinkled grandmother grinned and walked toward the other woman.

"Lyris?"

"Kagami!"

As the two older women embraced, Phoenix swore she saw an after-image skating across her vision, one of a tall, freckled, curly-haired strawberry blonde in glasses tackle-hugging a short, curvy Asian girl with a pair of rave goggles pushed into her jet-black hair. She smiled, briefly, until Aerin broke the reverie with an aggravated growl.

"Excuse me," she snapped, "but someone is kind of bleeding to death a little bit here?"

Cass abruptly snarled.

"Don't. Even. Joke."

Griselda snapped into action, barking orders at the girls standing in the doorway.

"Don't just stand there, girls! Go to your dorms immediately!"

Raziel's grandma waved her staff, and the black scorch mark on the floor faded from sight.

"I think, given the circumstances, returning your powers would be a wise decision," Faragonda conceded, folding her hands on the desk. "While your full term of punishment has not been fulfilled, it would suffice to say that your ability to hold off such dangerous demons without magic has earned you the right to regain your powers."

Faragonda gestured and six tiny balls of light appeared, glowing different colours. The amber ball of light merged with Cass, while the black light shot toward Phoenix. The copper and silver lights zoomed toward Aerin and Tor, while the red and gold merged with Jake and Raze. Tor flexed her hands, readjusting to the feel of magic running through her again, while Phoenix snapped her fingers experimentally, shooting off little lightning sparks. She frowned in confusion as the little sparks faded and flickered, and she snapped her fingers again, trying to regain her spark.

"What's going on?" she muttered, confused. Tor looked up through the window into the dark sky as lightning bolts struck, creating jagged white trails through the clouds. She ran outside, and the girls followed her. Jake rubbed her head, wincing.

"There's interference," she muttered.

"Interference?" Kaien asked.

"I don't know how to describe it- It's like static in my head."

"Ugh," Cass groaned, swaying. "I feel sick."

Tor took a step towards her friend, but her knees buckled and Jehan barely had time to wrap an arm around her waist before she collapsed. She was pale, and shaking, clammy with cold sweat. The dark shadows under her eyes seemed more pronounced; Cass leaned heavily on Tyler's shoulder as Jake rubbed her eyes, squinting as the world blurred in and out of focus. Aerin bent over, panting, bracing her hands on her knees.

"I really don't feel too good," Phoenix blurted, holding her head and wrapping her other arm around her middle. A tiny crease formed between Raziel's eyebrows as he shifted the prayer paper away from his eyes.

Her eyes widened, and she mumbled, "I really, _r__eally_ don't feel good."

She stumbled, bent over and vomited. Raziel lifted the hair out her face, as she continued to disgorge the contents of her stomach. Tor, still held up by Jehan's arm around her waist, gripped his shoulders, hauling herself up as much as she could.

"I'm so _tired_," she muttered, "What the hell is going on-"

Aerin made a noise that was a cross between a curse and a grunt. Her eyes rolled up and she crumpled. As Kaien lifted her gently off the ground, and Raziel wrapped his arm around the pale, shaking Phoenix, the heavens opened up in a torrential downpour of dark rain. Winter ushered Cass and Jake inside, while Tyler slid underneath Raze's arm, supporting her as her strength left her and she sagged.

"Dark rain," Tor muttered as stinging droplets of cold lashed her face and dripped into her eyes. Jehan growled and hooked his arm under her knees, carrying her bridal style and heading for the shelter of the building's interior.

"Hey," she protested, but Jehan cut her off.

"You can't even _s__tand_," he muttered, "So don't even think about it."

"I'll get you back for this," she said, but even as she said it, she drooped and allowed her head to fall against his chest.

The roll of thunder across the sky rumbled discordantly, following the flash of lightning and the sound of rain drumming against the pavement. Phoenix, dripping and shivering, bent over as if to throw up again, but dry-heaved instead. She was cold all over, and her clothes stuck to her, heavy with water and freezing against her skin. She was sick to her stomach, and her insides churned unhappily. Her vision felt blurry, black and foggy around the edges. There seemed to be a layer of cotton between her and the rest of the world, because she couldn't hear anything above the roar of static and whining in her ears. Raziel's mouth was moving, she saw, and he reached out with both hands, an expression of concern crossing his pale face as she tried to stand straight again. The world swayed alarmingly, descending into a headlong spiral as her sense of gravity left and the world went black.

* * *

><p>Sunlight painted red against the backs of her eyelids, and Phoenix screwed her eyes shut more tightly. There was tense knot at the base of her neck, probably because her head was in a funny position. Her lower back ached like she was nearing her period, when she knew it was nothing of the sort. Actually, everything hurt. Right down to her bones, the dull ache made her grit her teeth and turn over, struggling against the tightly tucked covers. She let out an unhappy noise and lashed out, pulling the blankets free and hauling them up to her chin, and, as an afterthought, over her head. Her mouth tasted absolutely disgusting, and the back of her throat felt scratchy and sore from the acid in whatever she'd thrown up the night before. She grunted and decided she couldn't stay in the too-soft, lumpy bed forever.<p>

Wait, where was she anyway?

A sudden sense of disorientation hit her, and she threw the covers back, struggling to rise out of the white mess of pillows nearly encasing her from what was essentially the waist up (_so uncomfortable!_). She blinked her eyes open and hissed as the sudden light stung her eyes. She rubbed the gunk out of them and did a 360 scan of the room she occupied.

She relaxed back slightly when she realised it was just a generic Alfea infirmary room, one of the more permanent ones- it wasn't just sectioned off with curtains, but had a bedside table, pot plant and armchair. The armchair, low and soft looking, was occupied by a figure curled tightly into itself, covered by a fuzzy blue blanket. A mussed head of blonde hair peeked over the blanket, and a pair of scuffed trainers lay on the floor. The chair almost seemed too small for the person occupying it, and Phoenix winced. They'd be aching all over when they woke, but until then, they were at peace.

Raziel's dark lashes rested against his cheeks, stark in contrast with the pale skin. He looked so soft and young and happy, curled into a tight little bundle. His hair was mussed, with little fly-aways and stray locks falling into his eyes. The slash of light falling across the room lit a soft gold halo around him.

She sat and watched, until she decided that she'd had enough of the disgusting taste in her mouth. The bedside table had a pitcher of water on it and two cups, she sloshed water into on and tipped it back, grimacing as the nasty taste rolled down her throat. She put the cup down gently and climbed back onto the lumpy bed. She draped herself across it, lying on her stomach and propping her head up with her hands, tracing the profile of his face with her eyes. There was something almost- she didn't really know how to describe it. He was… different. Just different, not loud like Tyler, not as cheeky as Jehan, and even she knew that he wasn't a bit like Winter, who had an ego the size of a minor solar system.

Raziel's eyes fluttered, and he blinked them open. The sudden rush of sunlight in his eyes hurt, and he lifted a hand to rub them free of whatever gunk had formed there. When he finally was able to open is eyes, his peripheral vision caught on Phoenix, draped across the bed and staring at him with those lovely, wide violet eyes. Even though she looked tired and worn-down, with dark shadows underneath her eyes, she was beautiful, achingly so- at least to him. Even though she might not have been as flashy as Tor or as stunning as Cass, there was an ethereal, almost dream-like quality about her, as if she didn't fully exist within his reality. Unlike Tor and Cass, who were firmly grounded and almost painfully real, Phoenix seemed almost mythic at times. With Phoenix, it was a case of fifty-fifty: half magical ethereal being, half Vocaloid loving, polaroid snapping cheerful rebellious princess, complete with a pink tutu, and the yellow Doc Martens he'd been coveting for two hundred and eighteen days, fifteen hours and twenty seven minutes. Which, coupled with the fact that he'd come from an all boys' school for the past four years, with little to no female contact except for his mom, grandma, Anachel and her small friends, left him completely beyond her league. She was so far out, being a serial dater with a boy trail three klicks long and twice that wide (not even mentioning her _rockin'_ body, and don't look at him like that, he was teenage boy just the same as anyone), that it left him absolutely delirious.

So it was kind of a new thing for him to wake up to a beautiful girl watching him sleep. So new, in fact, that he fell out of his chair, hit his head on the bedside table and knocked himself out.

The last thought he had time for was _Phoenix Altamirano: bringing new meaning to the expression, _achingly_ beautiful_.

* * *

><p>The first thing that woke Caspian up was not the sound of Tyler's screamo-blasting alarm clock blaring in his ear, but the dull, throbbing pain all along one side of his neck.<p>

"Ugh," he grunted. There was an ache in his head, as well, not as bad, but still irritating. His whole body felt like he'd been put through a meat grinder and then sprinkled with salt and lemon after being put through a paper shredder (scratches, cuts, scrapes all over; how he even got one on the inside of his ankle was beyond him). His stomach churned with hunger, and at that point, he decided that screw the pain, he was _hungry_.

With no small effort, he managed to throw back the covers and push himself out of (read: wallow in) the mound of pillows scattered across the whole top half of the bed. Caspian growled. Did they really know that little about nursing practice and bedside manner? He settled for methodically throwing the overstuffed things off the bed until he could lever himself into a crumpled but technically upright position. His stomach grumbled in protest, and he muttered.

"Okay, okay, calm down," he said, "I'm going."

He nearly fell of the bed but caught himself by colliding into the bedside table. He growled and made his way to the curtain enclosing the end of the cubicle nearest to the foot of the bed. With copious scraping and clanging, the blasted thing obliged when he dragged at it. He inexplicably stumbled over his own feet as he flicked his gaze down the strikingly uniform-looking corridors of some (?) infirmary. Probably Alfea.

Wait, they missed curfew.

_Ohshitshitshitshitshit._

Oh, shit, shit, he needed to get back to Red Fountain. He checked his wrist and swore when he couldn't find his watch. He stumbled back into the cubicle that he'd been located in, and grabbed the thing off the bedside table, swiping his jeans and shirt when he realised he was in boxers and not much else. Dragging the shirt over his head drew out a fresh wave of ragged pain from his tightly bound neck and shoulder, and he gritted his teeth. _Ow_. Caspian's mind raced. Where was his bike, what happened to his things, what happened in general, where were the guys, and the girls and Cass- Cass! Everything came flooding back, gnashing teeth of the nukekubi and the dull whoomph of Raze's force cannon blasting a rippling trail through the air, trailing the scent of hot buttery toast-

Hot buttery toast. Toast. Butter. Hot. Food. Caspian ran after the smell.

Hot. Butter. Toast. Toast. Eggs. Bacon. _Bacon_. Caspian burst into one of the curtained cubicles, lunging for the toast and bacon. He stopped dead, mere millimetres from the tip of a menacing-looking butter knife. Cass glared at him evilly.

"Step away from the bacon," she growled.

With a battle cry, Tor leapt through the curtain, brandishing one of the metal IV bag pole things like a quarterstaff. Phoenix followed, dragging an unconscious Raziel while Winter hopped down the hallway, trying to pull his shoes on.

Prompted by the crashing and screaming and everything going on, two nurses converged on the room, brandishing syringes full of sedatives in billowing white apron-like outfits. The shouting and crashing escalated as the not-quite fully reasonable Tor rammed her makeshift weapon into one of the nurse's hands, knocking the syringe free and sending it to shatter against the floor. Winter was about to slam his foot down onto the glass when Phoenix abruptly dropped Raziel and slam-tackled him, hurtling through the curtain to slam into Raze's bed. Raze flailed and fell out of bed onto the two while Caspian recoiled, tripping over the unconscious Raziel and falling backwards. He didn't have the time or space to arrest his fall before his head cracked sharply on the white tile floor. A white-hot slash of pain raced up the side of his neck and down his shoulder before the voices blurred together and became a black haze.

* * *

><p>"Hey, d'you think he's okay?"<p>

"Well, he just cracked his head on the floor pretty hard."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he had whiplash."

"Ah, _itai_, _itai_..."

"I'm sorry I dropped you! I mean, I had to rescue Winter, he was about to step on glass with sedatives all over it-"

"Alright, alright, give him some space, kids."

"Auntie Layla?"

"Hey, auntie!"

"Oh- oh, shit, oh shitshitshit-"

"My goodness, Cass, what did you do to your poor brother?"

"Nothing, I swear! All of that was the nukekubi!"

There was a soft laugh, and light fingers working around his face, brushing his hair away from his eyes.

"Caspian, time to wake up," a soft, teasing voice said. His fggy haze surface dinto a state of confused half-consciousness: the world around him was a colourful blur.

He scrunched up his face. "Ngh. Not now, Mom."

"What a weird expression. I didn't know your face could_ bend_ in those ways."

"Me neither. Huh. Wacky."

"Phoenix? Wait, what are you doing-oh!"

"Did she just-"

"I think she just fell asleep on you."

"Please wake up-"

"Don't worry, Mr.-?"

"Shirane, ma'am, Raziel Shirane, ma'am I mean your Majesty-"

A laugh. "Don't get so flustered, young man! Any friend of my children is a friend of mine, so feel free to call me Auntie."

"O-okay, ma'am."

"If you insist. Don't worry about Phoenix. That's just the latent power depletion hit."

"Depletion?"

Another voice joined them. A few pairs of feet scuffed against the floor and several people stood up.

"Power depletion. It most often occurs in novices in battle magic arts and studies, as a consequence of throwing energy around in no particular shape or form."

"Really?"

"Especially when the caster of the battle magic is inexperienced or untrained, they can release more magic into attacks than they intend."

"Caspian, wake up."

"Ma'am, he won't be up for a while. It's a wonder he actually got up this morning," Raziel's soft words had a hard edge. "Nukekubi bites don't just cause physical hurts- they're also energy drainers."

"Ah, I had forgotten. In that case, Caspian," his mother said, "feel free to black out."

He did just that.

* * *

><p>Following the incidents which involved Caspian running after the toast smell and being threatened with a butter knife by the hungry, cranky and PMSing Cass, and Raziel knocking himself out cold on a bedside table, everything returned to normal.<p>

Well, the definition of normal was debatable, at least in their terms. Normal normal involved classes, socials, doing down-town into Magix, gaming, dragon-riding and cramming for tests. Jake half-expected that a monster would jump out at her from one of the broom cupboards for the next week and a half, while Cass and Raze remained ever vigilant. After the initial paranoia of the first two weeks wore off, the girls found themselves back in a normal, safe daily routine. Wake up, breakfast, classes, lunch, classes, free time, dinner, study, sleep. Rinse, repeat. The cycle of study perpetuated itself so much that Raze's normally dismal grades pulled up into a B-average, something that hadn't happened since second grade. Even B-student Cass managed to scale up to an overall high A, while Aerin scored consistent full marks.

With the lapse in 'anything interesting' Caspian, Jake and Raze had the chance to recover fully from their unfortunate brush with the demon plague of Alfea. The girls' classmates had seemingly been instructed to give them space, because no-one bothered them. They went so far as to part like the Red Sea whenever any one of the girls entered a room. The suddenness of their plunge back into routine was jarring.

Raze made a point of visiting her brother every day at Red Fountain, and Aerin gradually made it her habit too. They became so known in the freshman dorms that every single one of the boys in the year group knew them on sight. Aerin noted with much exasperation that several of them had developed crushes on Raze and herself. When she singlehandedly smashed every high score they had on the Guitar Hero set-up they had in their rec room, they collectively adopted her as a big sister. Their eating habits were much the better for it.

Aerin's constant noodling in her dorm room had Raze's fingers and then Tor's itching for their instruments. There was rarely a time of day when Phoenix was not humming some improvised tune or muttering lyrics under her breath. With their boys in hard training and exam periods, the girls threw themselves into their unofficial band, learning set list after set list in an attempt to break the monotony.

Phoenix and Raziel still behaved rather awkwardly around each other while Jehan and Tor's competitiveness reached new heights. They couldn't hold back in anything, not just dragon-racing: grades, video games, flirting, picking people up. It wouldn't stop, at least until racing season started and Jehan was so run off his feet with training that Tor hardly saw two minutes of him in a week, which was rather frustrating for Cass. She supposed that that was just how they were, and that she should just concentrate on pushing Raziel and Phoenix together. Kaien and Winter seemed attached at the hip, and she briefly contemplated shipping them as her newest yaoi OTP before she shook her head at her won foolishness. Kaien was too serious and Winter's ego was too big for that kind of stuff.

Tyler called her up on that, and before she knew what she was doing, all the frustratedness came spilling out of her. Tyler laughed. She smacked him. He took that as her being fully recovered from her power drain, and suggested she go back into swimming competitively. She snorted.

"With these bazookas? That's why I got kicked off the team in seventh grade, fool," she muttered, indicating her assets with both hands. For the next five minutes, he wouldn't stop staring at her chest. She smacked him again and called him an ass, which resulted in him staring at her ass. She rolled her eyes and grabbed a handful of his hair to tug, hard. Tyler yowled, and she grinned evilly, sliding the hair-tie out of his ponytail and playing with the long black strands.

The weeks drifted by in a warm and vague haze.

Even with the constant tension of Tor and Jehan's romancing, Cass and Tyler's barely disguised flirting, the every-awkward and oblivious Raziel and Phoenix, and the waves of puppy love emanating off the entire Red Fountain freshie cohort, for the first time since the beginning of term, everything was back to normal.

* * *

><p>"What in <em>Dragon's name<em> possessed you? They were in mortal danger! Why didn't you intervene-"

Helia placed a hand on Flora's arm, and her fists clenched. The cloaked and hooded figure on the other side of the steel table bowed their head. Flora seethed, and Helia's grip on her arm tightened.

"Ugh," she muttered, retying her hair into a sloppy bun. Mercy's eyes were shadowed under the darkness thrown by the hood. Helia slid into one of the chairs while Flora rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Go on, Mercy," she said, voice still tight. The line of her body was tense under her long-sleeved jacket and leggings, and Helia shook himself out of his lustful thoughts. He could not afford to dwell on just how damn hot his wife still was when there was business to attend to. But, damn, anythign involving Mercy was _business_, and serious at that. He still couldn't believe that Flora had called in Mercy- she'd been a sleeper for years, with only a couple of small ops between her last major activation with the Linphean civil war, and he had to rely on his trust in Flora's instincts.

Mercy threw a knife onto the table, watching as it landed with a jarring metallic clatter. The edge of the knife was streaked with a thin line of blood. Flora stared at it, blinking.

"I did an essence trace on this," Mercy murmured, almost too soft to be heard.

"And? This relates, how?"

"There's a lot more going on than I thought there would be at first. It's serious, and that's why I couldn't intervene. There are events, big events, turning on one axis, and intervening with this axis point could be disastrous. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. We are allowed to alter the unperceived paths only to a certain extent."

Flora and Helia looked at each other, briefly. He read anxiety and fear in her eyes, and she read worry and suspicion in his. They looked to Mercy, who closed her eyes and sighed. They didn't need her to say who or what the axis point was. Just as she and her sisters in all but blood were the nexus, the common key, and point of revolution from their first year in Alfea with the Trix, and then Darkar, Baltor and the Fairy Hunters, their daughters were nexus points too. Judging by Mercy's echoing doubts, it wouldn't be as bad as they had it. It would be much, much worse.

She sank into the plastic chair beside her husband, angry facade crumbling as she covered her mouth with her hand, choking back the bitter taste of misery, a taste she hadn't felt in her body for nine years.

"This is war."

* * *

><p>Hello everybody, this is Raziel~<p>

Nickname: Raz, Razzy, sometimes people call me Ziel but it's not too often I guess. Anachel has all sorts of nasty insulting nicknames for me, but let's not go into that shall we?

Favourite Food: Ice cream, profiteroles, tteokbokki, Thai green curry, Mom's Friday night teppanyaki, chocolate-chip cookies, pretty much anything sweet or really spicy.

Favourite Colour: Maybe white, or teal, aquamarine or turquoise? Any variant of those is nice. Pretty much any colour that doesn't have disgusting connotations is good.

Favourite Hobby: I don't really have any fixed or definite hobbies. Whatever takes my fancy at any time is good, I guess writing? Maybe. I don't really know. I had a phase where all I would do was sketch, sketch, sketch, and then I was crazy about lomography. I don't really know what that says about my attention span, but hey, cut me some slack.

Favourite Pet: I've had bad experiences with cats. *shudder* So I've kind of been put of all pets for life. But maybe I could cope with a small dog, just not one of those noisy ones.

Ideal Girlfriend: Someone sweet and understanding, outgoing and cheerful and not as shy as me. But I doubt I'll have a girlfriend any time soon. Just call it instinct, or maybe the fact that I know my downfall is my shyness with girls.

Best Friends: Kai and Jehan, and a lot of other people in a long, complicated and much annotated list ending with, I suppose, Anachel.

Favourite Movies: Studio Ghibli, with my absolute favourite being My Neighbour Totoro. The Cat Returns was pretty good, as was Princess Mononoke.

Loves: Scribbling, sketching, lomo, the sound of rain at night, people who get it.

Hates: People with no awareness of other people, self-harm, guilt trips, seeing people I care about hurt.

Favourite Music: Piano and soft acoustic, and most Ennio Morricone, with my absolute favourite of all time being the love theme from Cinema Paradiso. Not that I don't like other music, I just like this the most.

Favourite Shoes: Shiny yellow 8-eyelet Doc Martens. *drool*

Favourite Subject: Language Arts and Literal Articulation. Somebody needs to keep on top of rhetoric these days, and I guess with Jehan scraping a pass and Winter still failing, it'll have to be me.

Favourite Attack: Probably the crescent moon sweep we just did in Advanced Swordplay. The butterfly cut comes pretty close, though.


	9. Chapter 9

**9: Last Ride Of The Day**

Aerin shoved her hands into her pockets, trying to ignore the googly-eyed looks the freshie boys on the lower floor of the dorms were sending her way. A couple of them were staring at her ass in the skin-tight grey jeans she wore, and a couple had focused in on her modestly curved chest. She crossed her arms and thanked the blessed Dragon that she didn't have Tor's ass. Ugh. Then they'd even more tempted to have their hands all over her. She had no use for unsophisticated little boys like that, especially when they were goggling at her curves. Not that they weren't adorable an all, it was just that they were inexperienced, and were probably too sensitive to deal with her, and not mature enough to handle her habits and personality.

She pulled her jacket more tightly around herself, zipping up the high collar and pulling the sleeves down over her hands to combat the excessive climatic alteration in the dorm block (did they not know the meaning of too much freakin' air conditioning?). She shook her head to herself, jamming the button on the lift and stepping in, surprising a group of what looked to be junior or senior boys in combat uniform. They clustered in a corner of the lift, and she frowned slightly, puzzled. That was completely illogical. It was great that they were scared of her, shying away and looking like deer caught in the headlights, but they had no reason to be. Her sharp eyes picked out that the hem of one of their cloaks was ripped. It was also pretty weird that they weren't in civilian clothes. From her reckoning, most of Red Fountain would be empty on the shuttles departing that night on inter-realm flights, and that the boys should be packing and making sure their affairs were in order. She hadn't seen one combat uniform up to that point. Weird.

The lift glided smoothly onto the floor above, and she stepped out into the rambunctious freshie corridor. She leaned backward to avoid a projectile of an unknown nature zooming by her face and dodged around a blonde hover-boarding down the corridor. A group of dark-haired boys chased a red-head down the corridor as the red-head triumphantly waved a lacy green thong above his head. Aerin backed away, lip curling. A blue-haired half-elf chased after the thong-waver, screaming curses in everything from Altraverian to Dwarvish to Cassecagnalian and launching blue laser strings, lifting the other boy into the air by his ankles.

She marched briskly down the corridor, ruffling Acanthus Leander's hair as he stuck his head out of the rec room. A few of the other boys cheered as she passed by, but none were brazen enough to ask her out like Echo Drusus had last week, and one of the Elomar brothers before him. Again, Aerin shook her head. Here they were, on the eve of the Day of the Rose, fooling around and playing games instead of packing their bags or doing useful things like checking their travel documents and money exchanges.

Someone tackle-hugged her from behind and she turned to whack them, before realising that it was just Jordan ai Landrach, one of the sons of the minor nobility from Aezeri (his older sister was 21 and already married, making her a rei Kylaali, which meant that Jordan was a rai Kylaali by extension, but whoever got hitched to him would be an ei Landrach- Aerin shook herself briskly. No point or sense in going deep into Aezerian politics in the middle of the freshies.).

"Hi, Jordy," she grinned. Jordan grinned back, entire face lighting up. He was quite handsome, at 5'11" with sculpted cheekbones and a body that was just filling out, but he had the attention span of a goldfish and the hyperactive tendencies of a squirrel on crack. So, no, he was just like another little brother, of the Kazul variety: spastic, noisy, overly curious and sometimes a nuisance, but lovable all the same.

"Rinnie," he grinned, nuzzling her hair in an affectionate manner. She sighed and slid out of his hug. His melodramatic expression of woe was almost too much for her.

"D'you know where Cameron is?" Jordan shrugged, trying to remember.

"Nope," he finally responded, dodging an especially overenthusiastic RC hoverbot careening through the air.

"Seen them at all today?"

Jordan shook his head again. "No, haven't seen them all day. What for, Rinnie?"

"Nothing, nothing." She didn't want to explain her feeling of general unease and have them rib her for having divinatory tendencies. She simply got up and had an intense compulsion to check in on her brother, return his thumb drive and make sure that nothing had happened.

She couldn't shake that feeling of unease. Her hand tightened over the thumb drive in her pocket as her brisk march took her down the corridor and around the corner, into a quieter section of the dorms. Away from the crowd of playful fifteen-year-old boys, the dorm block seemed much more eerie and deserted; the blaring of the television was tinny, seeming pathetically distant and ineffectual in her ears. Suitcases were piled around the doorways and Aerin skirted around a particularly large pile, cutting across to Ambrose' dorm room.

She rapped sharply on the door, and scuffling inside the dorm ensued. Her sixth sense prickled. There were four fifteen-year-old boys inside. It was unnatural for it to be this quiet, especially with Kazul's hamster-on-speed tendencies and Cameron's general ability to become frustrated with just about anything. She knocked on the door again when nobody answered her immediately. She was about to knock for a third time when the door slid open with a pneumatic hiss, and Kazul poked his head out.

His expression flashed panic before he pasted on an almost garishly cheerful smile. "Hi, Aerin!"

"Can I come in?"

"Um," he hesitated, "The dorm's a bit- messy, now, yes, it's really messy, looks like a bomb hit it-"

She frowned. "Where's Cameron?"

"Um, Cameron's, um, out," he stuttered, "Yea, that's right, he's out-"

A yelp of pain cut him off mid-explanation, and Aerin's frown deepened. "Cut it out, Kazul. You're a terrible liar."

"What? What are you talking about, psh, no, Rinnie, I would never lie to you okay have a nice day gotta go goodbye!" Kazul blurted, slamming his hand over the door button. Aerin jammed her foot into the closing door and wrenched it open.

"Shut up, Kazul," she muttered, kicking aside his duffel bag and passed the door splitting off into their bathroom. She yanked the door into Kazul and Hotaru's room open, and jerked when another cry of pain drifted through the wall. Kazul wrung his hands and tried to deter her from entering Ambrose and Cameron's room, but she bull-dozed the younger boy and proceeded on her warpath. She flung open the door, sending it slamming into the wall as her fists clenched.

"Kazul!" Ambrose yelled, "You were supposed to keep everybody _out_!"

There was another yell of pain and Hotaru, their other dorm-mate, snapped at Ambrose. "I can't bloody concentrate with you screaming like that! If you wanted the door to stay closed you shouldn't have put Kazul there!"

Ambrose yelled back at Hotaru, who shouted at Kazul, who pointed at Aerin and then at the figure splayed on the bed, bleeding from cuts and bruised all over. Hotaru yanked savagely on the suture he held in one hand, and Aerin's irritation quickly became anger.

"Who did _that_," she hissed, "to my brother?"

Ambrose looked at the floor, shamefaced. Cameron's glasses lay on the floor, broken in two as Hotaru unreeled a bandage and wrapped it around her brother's bare midriff. All over his arms and back, thin, shallow slashes of red cut across his pale skin as he gritted his teeth and allowed Hotaru to stitch a longer, deeper cut across his back shut. There was a sunrise in Ambrose' eye, blue and purple and turning green and yellowish around the edges. More bruises peppered his arms, echoing the shape of fingers encircling his wrists. Aerin glared at the black haired boy clumsily stabbing away at skin with the needle. She slapped his hands away and growled.

"Let me," she muttered, drawing the base patterns for a medium-level cut-healing spell over her brother's back as he buried his face in his pillow. It was then that she noticed his arm was bent slightly strangely, as if he was trying to keep pressure off it. She grabbed it and Cameron whimpered involuntarily. She swore.

"Broke, too? Come on! You can't all just sit there being deaf and dumb!"

She fixed a pointed look on Ambrose, who met her eyes for a split second before losing his nerve and looking away.

"Ambrose of Sparx," she hissed, "So help me _Dragon_, you will speak or I will castrate you with a wooden spoon."

Ambrose flinched and looked up at her, blue eyes wide. "I swear, Aerin, we didn't do _anything_, they just jumped us- a bunch of juniors? Seniors? I don't know, I swear, I don't know why they attacked us, but-"

Ambrose continued to swear up and down that he had no idea about anything, and she sighed, turning to Hotaru.

"What happened?"

Hotaru shook his head. "I'm not sure, I only got that a bunch of upperclassmen jumped them, and that Cam threw himself in front of Ambrose the moment they got knives out. So they roughed him pretty bad."

"Hmm," Cameron grunted, voice muffled by the pillow, "Shut it, Hotaru."

"Hey," Hotaru replied, "You just got roughed worse than the Elomars versus Draegan over Allimere's thong in week five. So don't tell me to shut it when Aerin wants details so she can rough whoever jumped you two."

Aerin glared at Cameron, who simply turned his head and looked away, wincing as Aerin finished the base pattern and muttered an incantation.

"Rin..."

Aerin growled. "So help me God, you are going to tell me who did this, or I'm dragging you before Mom and Dad like this. You _know_ what they're like."

"Please, Rin, just do the spells. I really don't want Mom and Dad going ballistic when they-"

"-find out about this," she muttered. "I know."

She moved onto Cameron's broken arm and inspected it. "It looks like a greenstick fracture. You sure you want to risk me doing it wrong?"

He glared. "I can't go to the hospital wing and say I had a philosophical disagreement with the floor, can I? There's zero tolerance for fighting, you know that."

"You're more worried about your bloody record than whether or not your arm gets fixed up properly?" She shook her head and lightly traced the base for the healing spell. "Could you just swallow your damn pride for once and tell me what's going on?"

Cameron shook his head as Ambrose glowered at the floor. "No. I can't. It goes against everything, _everything_, that we've learnt about life here. We don't tattle, Rin."

Tension thickened the air as Hotaru wiped off his hands and disposed of the bandage wrappers. Kazul picked up Cameron's shirt, disposing of it once he saw it was beyond redemption. Ambrose sank to the floor, stretching his bare feet out in front of him and running a hand through his hair. Cameron winced as the greenstick fracture snapped back into place and Aerin grabbed his other arm, inspecting it for damage.

"I could've handled myself, Cam!" Ambrose shouted suddenly, fists curling. "You didn't have to go and throw yourself- Oh, if you're going to be like this then what's the point of both of us coming here?"

"Shut up!" Cameron growled, "What's the bloody point? Ha! What's the freaking point of both of us being slashed to ribbons instead of just me? Just- ugh!"

Silence.

"Don't get me wrong," Aerin hissed, "No matter how stubborn you insist on being, I will get this out of you and it will _not _be pretty when I do."

* * *

><p>The Day of The Rose dawned bright and humid on Magix. A fine haze of mist clouded the air, rising off the greenery and buildings as the civil services crews bustled around the streets like ants, tacking up garlands of roses and swags of greenery. Cloth drapes suspended in mid-air fluttered in the scant morning breeze as Tor ran a hand through her hair, leaning over the balcony with her chin resting on one hand. The humidity, even this early in the morning, felt sticky against the bare skin of her shoulders and legs. It was a startling change, considering the fact that Magix had normally beautiful weather. It'd gotten so hot during the night that she'd kicked off her light covers and wriggled out from Tyler's hold on her waist. It was lucky that neither of them were starfish sleepers, otherwise they never would have fit on the queen bed in their parent's room in the apartment. Tor smiled slightly. It was a Day Of The Rose tradition. If the twins couldn't be on Linphea, they always spent the night in their apartment, sleeping in the same bed (as distinct from sleeping together; that was just wrong and they both knew it) like they used to when they were kids. In fact, it had been an almost futile effort to separate the twins until Tor once accidentally kicked Tyler 'there', upon which he abjectly refused to sleep in the same room with his sister.<p>

"Ngh?" The sliding doors behind her rattled open.

"Hi, bro."

Tyler nudged her, offering a bottle of ice coffee flavoured milk. She accepted it and shook the bottle before unscrewing the cap and taking a long gulp. Tyler undid his braid, combing his fingers through the length of his fine black hair. A burst of breeze blew his hair away from his face, and Tyler rubbed his eyes.

"You should chop your hair," she suggested, only half-joking. Tyler shot her a pointed look.

"Hey, I'm winning and don't you forget it," he muttered, the corners of his mouth quirking up into a smile. It was true, his hair was far longer than hers, and she wondered why she was still in the hair-growing competition with her brother and father when anything past shoulder-blade length bothered her.

"You got all your gear ready?" Tyler nodded.

"Which leathers are you wearing?"

"The black ones, with the green-trim flying coat."

Tor nodded in approval. They were nice leathers, and matched his tack and dragon colour well.

"You trained up?" she asked, and Tyler chuckled.

"Half of it is your work, you know that," he said, "Areyu is raring to go, and all I'm worried about is that he's too used to your style that he won't recognise me anymore."

"Pah, rubbish," she snorted, flapping her hand, "You've been with Areyu for three years already. 'Rey isn't likely to forget you."

"We've both been around Areyu for three years," Tyler said. "Areyu is as much your dragon as he is mine."

She shrugged. "Whatever you want to think. You wanna have breakfast?"

"Yeah, just not anything you cooked," he shot back. Tor punched him lightly on the arm.

"Watch your tongue, little brother," she grinned, "Otherwise I'll really make your food inedible."

"So you admit that your cooking is inedible!"

"Not all of it! Oh, shut up, Tyler."

"You really do admit it!"

"You're simply insufferable, do you hear?" Tyler shoved her and she shoved him back, ducking inside to change so they could go and have breakfast somewhere. Tyler emerged from the bathroom barefoot in a pair of shorts and T-shirt, and Tor rethought her outfit choice, peeling off her jeans and grabbing a pair of shorts and a tank top.

Once they'd grabbed their wallets and bags (messenger bags, the both of them), they locked the apartment door behind them and went down to ground floor in the lift.

"D'you know any good places?" Tyler asked, looking lost. "I don't get out for breakfast much."

"Me neither," she responded, equally at a loss. She pushed her sunglass down over her eyes as Tyler scanned the other side of the street, looking for a cafe.

"Hey!"

"Jeh! Hi!" Jehan waved them down from the other side of the road, and the twins crossed quickly, dodging streetcraft wildly. Jehan ran a hand through his hair, fist-bumping with Tyler and smiling at Tor.  
>"You're up so early," Tyler joked, "Normally, we'd still be dragging you out of bed with a catch pole around your ankle at this hour of the morning."<p>

"I got hungry," he said sheepishly, "I'm getting breakfast."

"Great! We're coming with," Tor said, grinning. He stomach made a grumbling noise, and she frowned at it. Tyler laughed at her as they set off down the path, into the arts district.

"So, what has you here? Normally everybody goes home for the Day Of The Rose," Jehan said.

"Nah," Tyler said, "I'm racing in the Rosen Cup today."

"No way, me too! The Rosen course changes every year, and because last year's wasn't so hard, they're saying this year's going to be lethal."

"I hope not literally," Tor said, "otherwise I'd have to lock you both away in straitjackets to stop you guys from meeting a very messy end."

"Hey, don't exaggerate so much! A course like the Rosen Cup is always shielded on all sides. We got nothing to worry about," Tyler said.

Tor shrugged. "If you say so. It's going to be an absolute nightmare getting back to through the pavement traffic in time for prep and launching."

"Nah, don't worry about that. My sister Alainn is in the city this time, as an extra hand to help manage the family stables. She's gonna come and pick us up," Jehan said, turning onto 7th Street and checking the narrow street for cruisers before crossing. The twins followed him into the tiny blue-fronted cafe, stooping under the low door as the shop bell rung. A small, plump woman bustled through to the empty dining area, beaming and opening her arms for a hug. Jehan wrapped his arms around the older lady as she patted his cheeks and ruffled his hair.

"Hi Auntie," he smiled.

"I supposed you're here for breakfast, then, Jehan?"

"Yeah, and my friends too," he said, "Auntie Em, meed Tyler and Tor. Tyler's in the Rosen Cup today too, and Tor's his twin sister."

Emily looked over at them, scanning them up and down once with an almost wary expression. She blinked, and her face broke into a friendly smile.

"Welcome to the Serenade! Come on, have a seat and I'll have the menus out." Emily bustled away, whipping out her dish towel and ducking behind the counter. Tyler sat heavily, leaning back in his chair and retying his ponytail. Jehan dragged a chair out while Tor wandered over to the glass-fronted cupcake display.

"Sugar..." she murmured wistfully, drinking in the sight of the confections in the window. _Coffee meringue cupcakes..._

Jehan slapped two five dollar notes on the counter. Emily emerged, carrying three menus and a coffee pot.

"Two coffee meringue cupcakes and two fudge brownies, please," he said. Tor's eye snapped up to him.

"Huh?"

"What, you don't want those cupcakes?"

She shook her head, "You don't have to pay for me."

"Yeah, well, I just want to."

She shook her head again and went back to the table, where Tyler had begun to excitedly rattle off his breakfast order. She picked a few items, not nearly as many as Tyler but quite a substantial amount anyway, and settled back to wait as he scanned the beverages menu without really understanding what he was reading.

Torr snapped her fingers, summoning a few sheets of paper as he went back to the table with the plate of baked goods.

"So the Rosen isn't in heats this year?" Tyler asked, peering at the paper and chewing a mouthful of eggs.

"Nope. This year they classed the course as Advanced 2, with a recommendation on grade 5 technical aerobatics," Tor said, reading off the sheets. "There are some real good flyers- a couple Aerialists, some Advanced 3, Advanced 4, one Elite 1- oh, jeez, this is one hell of a course."

"Advanced 2 with aerobatics? Oh, shit, that is one _killer- triple levelled bars_? Are they kidding? And a fifty metre vertical dive with a 500m level-out and crap that's one narrow bottleneck."

Tor's eyebrows ascended toward her hairline. "They're running quite a few crash points, with soft-shielding on all sides. Usually it's just on the bottom."

"I've run through the Rosen Cup for the past fifteen years a million times, bro," Jehan chimed, "And that's one of the most technically difficult to date. But I'll have my new double coated anti-reflective polarised flying goggles, with a live feed screen on the inside."

He produced a pair of shiny flip-down goggles, handing them to Tor and Tyler to coo over.

"Wow... they're so much nicer than my old clunkers," Tyler murmured, turning them over in his hands. "The light sensitivity-?"

"ISO 800, though you can jack it up to 1600," he said easily. Tyler whistled. He passed the goggles to Tor, who raised them to her eyes and grinned, looking like a crazy raver.

Tor's phone went off, blasting the opening chords of Wishmaster at an unreasonable volume. She fumbled at her bag, pawing it open and fishing around for her phone, jabbing at the touchscreen and placing it at her ear.

"Hi, Phoenix," she greeted. She nodded twice, and turned to Jehan. "Seventh Street, right?"

He nodded.

"Okay, sure, we're in a little cafe with a tree outside it. And it's blue. Blue with a stripy awning- Oh, I have you in sight," she said rushing to the window and waving frantically. Two figures ran across the road, bursting into the cafe with a noisy jangle of the doorbell. Phoenix flounced up to their table, dragging a younger girl by the arm. Judging by their limited but existent resemblance, the younger girl was Phoenix's kid sister.

"Phoenix, Riley," Tyler called, waving. "Watcha' here for?"

"We're just early for tonight's reunion dinner," Phoenix said, grabbing Tor for a hug and dragging her away by the wrist.

Riley plopped herself down in a chair without invitation, and rolled her eyes when Tyler ruffled her samurai half-ponytail. She snorted and brushed the hair from her eyes, crossing her arms and leaning back to survey them with cool detachment. Phoenix had long since dragged Tor back to the cupcake display, whereupon she began cooing over the assorted desserts. Riley picked up the course diagram, gave it a once over, and put it down.

"You're screwed," she said, finally.

She picked up a brownie and sunk her teeth into it as Tyler and Jehan stared at her, an ominous foreboding building in the backs of their minds.

* * *

><p>Cameron grabbed another load of plates, setting out the table as Aerin answered the door of their suburban abode. Not that they didn't have a palace, it was just that their mother valued a sense of what limited normality they could achieve. Being a fairy, a queen and governor and a living-legend, is mother's fastidiousness in the matters of the everyday extended into compulsive and pathological obsession. There was a brief exchange of words between his sister and the pizza delivery person, before Aerin came back into the dining room with several pizza boxes stacked upon her arms. She set the upon the table and opened each one, checking the contents.<p>

"Margarita, check, pepperoni, check, bologna, check, meat lover's, check, jalapeno and anchovies, eugh, vegetarian, there. We have all our pizzas," she said to no-one in particular. Aerin paused, and closed all the boxes by hand wiping her greasy fingers on a paper towel as he laid out the cutlery. He marvelled at the redundancy of such a measure when, face it, they were having _pizza_, but his mother was fastidious at best and obsessive-compulsive on the more extreme regions of the scale.

"Cam," Aerin started, a determined edge in her voice. She tried to make eye contact, her green eyes flashing, but he quickly redirected his line of sight. He could feel Aerin staring at him, her gaze boring into the back of his head in an almost accusing fashion. 'Accusing' was putting it in very loose terms. Terms like that mean a half-way mish-mash of disappointment, ire and the inevitable pity/concern-tell-me-your-problems which he _hated_ from strangers, much less from his own sister.

"Come on," she said, that hard edge sharpening in her tone. "You're telling me sometime, whether you want to or not."

He responded by striding stiffly back into the kitchen, his posture ramrod-straight while his slippered feet slapped against the hardwood floor with more force than was necessary. She was _not _guilt-tripping him into telling ehr everything. Nope. He was immune, he lied to himself, and that heavy and sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach was hunger, not the very sensation that Aerin was trying to inspire within him. The doorbell rang again, and his mother rushed out of the master bedroom to swoop upon their guests. The door flew open, and he heard his cousin Chelsea's distinctive accent, followed by the not-dissimilar tones of her parents. In rapid succession, three of his younger cousins, Elmo, Jackson and Alyssa, barrelled into their single-level abode; Aunt Lorie and Uncle Eoghan came, carrying something large and covered in a crackling layer of cellophane. His dad was in the kitchen, chopping up lettuce for the huge bowl of green salad sitting on the counter top. He decided that everything was in order and that he could, in fact, retreat to his room.

It was a lot bigger than his dorm room, and good bit more flamboyant too. His room was an L-shape, with his sliding door closet jutting out from one wall and obscuring the view of his room from the door. One wall, the one closest to the door, was entirely composed of corkboards, square magnetic panels and whiteboards, covered with equation, schematics, diagrams and photographs. The other three walls were painted aqua blue, with white white shelves on either side of the computer tabled backed up to the wall opposite the door. His sound system was set up around the drafting table under his first window, partly occupying the shelves; his loft-bed fit neatly around the window with his computer desk beneath is soft, luxurious double bed.

Cameron kicked off his slippers and collapsed onto a beanbag lurking suspiciously close to one of his speakers. He wanted to sleep so badly, and he happily would've on the shuttle back home last night, except for the fact that Aerin kept ribbing him about being jumped in a subtle and roundabout way that only they'd be able to figure out, which made it doubly frustrating for him.

His mom stomped into his room in her fluffy violet house slippers and summarily chewed him out for being face-down on a bean bag when there were guests to entertain. He dragged himself into the living room, where Chelsea and Alyssa had already half-screwed up his game console set-up. Caleb stumbled through the door once Kel gave him a firm push, and the aunts and uncles milling around almost became too much. Aerin's accusing stares did not abate, even when baby Colin vomited over the back of his shirt. Once the family had pizza lunch and felt that they'd celebrated enough, they cleared out like lightning, leaving behind a mess for him and Aerin to trawl through. She huffed and snapped her fingers, banishing the mess while simultaneously levelling the silent treatment at him.

No, he was _not_ going to crack. No way.

* * *

><p>"Come on," Riley wheedled, tugging on Phoenix's sleeve. Phoenix swatted her sister's hands away, frowning slightly.<p>

"No, Mom and Dad would _kill_ me," she said, "Not after you set fire to the balloon arch at the Foreign Affairs minister's daughter's wedding."

"Aw, don't be such a stick in the mud," Riley grumbled, crossing her arms and scowling.

"Stop being such a delinquent."

"Anyhow, I have to go up to the stables," Tyler said, ruffling Riley's ponytail before scampering up to the huge stable doors. The side door slid open with a smooth pneumatic hiss as Alainn slapped the palm-stud that secured the lock. Jehan peeked out, waved at Phoenix, Tor and Riley, then ducked back in with a swish of his flying coat. Alainn waved at them before turning on her heel and marching back into the stables with her dark brown waves swinging across her back.

Phoenix ran a hand through her hair and pulled it back into a sloppy ponytail with the scrunchy around her wrist.

"So... you want to go up to the viewing galleries?" Tor suggested.

"Nah, nothing fun goes on up there," Phoenix said.

"It's true," Riley supplied, "the best shit goes down in a melee."

"Melee? Really?" Tor said, raising her eyebrow archly. Riley smirked, and Tor shook herself to remember that this kind of thing wasn't normal for eleven year old girls.

"Bloodbath Dodgeball Melee champion two years running," she said, shrugging.

They took off down the promenade, with Phoenix taking a firm grip on Riley's wrist.

"Look overhead," Riley said, pointing with her free hand. The Rosen course crossed over the tops of the high-rise buildings, an iridescent and translucent double layered shield flickering with flecks of coloured light.

"Those must be the triple levelled bars," Riley said, indicating a tight arrangement of steel bars across the inside of the tunnel.

"The most difficult thing is that the course is a tunnel; it's closed off and there's virtually no room to manoeuvre. That's why they have so many crash points," Tor said absently, turning Jehan's goggles over in her hands. She stared at them, blinking as she tried to remember why she had the goggles in her hands.

"Oh, shoot! Riley, Phoenix, I'll be right back!"

She ran back up the promenade, dashing up the hill to come at a skidding halt at the dragon stable doors. She pressed the intercom button, and a few seconds later, the voice of one of the hands came through the round grille speaker.

"Name and purpose?"

"Tor Harker, I need to return Jehan's goggles."

"Oh, it's you, Miss Harker. Come on in."

The door slid open and she tore into the stables, ducking around a shipment of flame-proof bedding compound to race up the stairs leading to the upper level gantries. The changerooms were up on the first floor, away from the tack rooms and the holding units themselves. She marched down the corridor, turning the corner and rapping smartly on Jehan's door. There was no answer, and she knocked again. She tried Tyler's door- no response. There were no stable hands about, and the change rooms were deserted. She clattered down the stairs and checked the stable-master's office, thinking that he might be there with Alainn, the stable-master, or both. No-one. As she re-emerged, a figure scampered out of the tack room, and she followed them with her eyes quickly. They weren't recognisable- must've been another stable hand. She ducked in to check if either of her boys were in the tack room. Empty. Areyu's saddle was gone, but Lupo's remained, gleaming leather and heavy brass buckles on a broad wooden stand. Before she exited, she caught a faint whiff of a distinctive and offensive odour, a combination between burnt flesh and sewer gas. She grimaced and moved out as quickly as possible. A few stable hands transported Lupo's saddle out, faces screwed up at the smell emanating from the leather object.

She spotted a long-haired figure striding down the corridor, pulling on a flying coat and heading for the tack room.

"Tyler!" She called, waving. Her brother seemed surprised to see her.

"Tor? What-? Aren't your supposed to be outside?" he asked, frowning in puzzlement.

"I forgot to give Jehan's goggles back," she said, looking down the corridor again.

"Oh, he went to Alainn's private office upstairs to get another pair of goggles. I have to get back to Areyu- The race is on soon-"

"Go," she said, already starting toward the stairs.

"Harker," a voice called behind her. Tor stopped and turned. It was Alainn, her exotically beautiful face set in a slight frown. "What are you doing here?"

"Jehan's goggles," she said, "He forgot to take them back."

"What? That's very strange- I swear he was holding those same goggles... he just went down to the stable-"

"But weren't you giving him an old pair of yours, in your office? Tyler just came through-"

"No, I haven't been up to my office all day," Alainn replied, frown deepening. "This is _very_ strange."

"You've got an imposter."

"Riley!" Tor hissed in surprise, jerking. Riley's mouth twisted, and she uncrossed her arms.

"How do I know you're not an imposter, too?" Tor demanded. Riley whispered in her ear. Tor's eyes widened, and she shook herself, grimacing.

"Okay, not an imposter."

"You've got an imposter, and the course has been sabotaged." Riley tapped her foot rhythmically against the concrete floor.

"How-?"

Riley produced a small, flat disk with a square panel in its centre and four claws equidistant from one another around its rim.

"What _is_ that?" Alainn hissed, narrowing suspicious eyes at the eleven-year-old.

"You never seen a sonic sounder before?"  
>"A sonic sounder?" Tor gasped, "Where did you get that?"<p>

"I snuck into the Rosen Cup complex. It was planted on the outside of the tube, about twenty metres off the finishing line. It was on thermoptic camo mode."

"How did you see it, then?" Tor demanded. Riley grimaced and lifted her finger to one eye, popping out a contact lens. Alainn's eyebrow rose.

"So what does a sonic sounder do, exactly?"

"Sonic sounders, well, they go boom." Tor said bluntly.

"They emit a high intensity sound burst that travels at a such a high speed that it causes a concussive force blast. If you key them to certain frequencies, they can be used to remotely activate other devices, like real explosives, or trigger chemical leaks into the atmosphere from planted pods or something," Riley elaborated.

"How do you _know_ this stuff?"Alainn asked, still suspicious and disbelieving, "and how do you even have an eyescreen filter of that calibre?"

Riley declined to answer.

"Trigger..." Tor muttered. "Trigger... chromanite acid."

"Yeah, the sounders can be used to trigger chromanite acid," Riley said. She seemed confused for the first time in their exchange. "Why?"

"Oh, _shit_!" she cursed, running up the stairs to the changerooms. Alainn and Riley ran after her as she all but knocked down Tyler's door, throwing the closet open and grabbing her spare leathers and one of her silk undershirts. She stripped off her shirt, facing the corner, her bra as well; she slid the undershirt over her head and grabbed her riding stays, sliding them around her torso and doing up the busk. Strong and practiced hands undid the back laces, tightening them just enough to ensure that her body was securely bound without restricting movement or compromising her comfort. She glanced briefly over her shoulder, seeing Alainn's face set in a look of concentration as she tied the laces tight. Riley handed her her overshirt, tight jacket and leather pants as Alainn helped her into each article of clothing. She grabbed her sole coat from the closet and pulled it on, pulling the waist buckles tight and doing up the high collar. Alainn's fingers were in her hair, twisting it into a tight knot at the base of her neck.

"Lupo's saddle's been sabotaged with chromanite acid," she explained rapidly. "He might be- It'll eat away at the buckles and straps and harnesses. Tyler won't be able to do anything if the sonic sounders go off concussively; he'll panic, he won't be able to focus on anything but his flying and he won't have magic to help him- I think Jehan's goggles might have been sabotaged too-"

"I'll draw Tyler off so you can take Areyu," Riley said, "But you owe me unlimited pork floss buns."

"Three, and I won't tell your dad about those eyescreen filters," Tor growled, pulling on her socks and boots.

"Twelve," she countered.

"Seven," Tor offered.

Riley nodded. "Deal."

"I'll get down and try to stop them from launching," Alainn said, tying off and swiftly exiting. Riley vanished like a shadow and Tor ran out, racing to the launching bays while jamming a flying cap and Jehan's goggles over her head.

She barrelled into Areyu's launching back, sniffing the air for the distinctive scent of chromanite acid. There was none. Areyu balked, his mottled emerald tail lashing wildly at the unfamiliar figure in his launch bay. Tor approached hurriedly, placing a soothing hand on Areyu's snout; the dragon calmed once he sensed it was her. She hoisted herself into the saddle and did up the harness straps with some difficulty, fumbling at the legs straps and the ones that pulled around her waist and hips. Areyu's muscles coiled under her, as is he sensed the tension running through her veins; with a quiet word of command, those powerful muscles tensed, bunched and sprung into a full extension, catapulting the dragon into the air with a buffeting downdraft.

She steered Areyu toward the opening of the tunnel mouth, sliding into place alongside a violet Highland Bonescale and a savage looking black Broad-beaked Devourer. Positioned atop his magnificent saphirre blue dragon, Jehan leaned forward, eyes fixed ahead as his hands twitched, as if envisioning a set of guide reins. He would have one advantage, at least.

He was Bonded. She was not.

Through the lenses of her borrowed high tech goggles, she could make out Tyler and Phoenix in the crowd, pushing through the gaps and pointing at Areyu. Tyler gesticulated expansively and Phoenix responded in kind. They turned accusingly on the inconspicuous Riley trailing them, and the younger girl launched into an explanation.

The warning chime sounded. Her eyes flicked ahead, and she leaned low over Areyu, hands steadying over her guide reins. The double chime signalling the second warning went off, and she glanced over at Tyler and Phoenix, waving at her wildly and shouting at her to get down, get out-

A massive bang went off and Areyu accelerated hard. No going back.

* * *

><p>"How could you have been so <em>stupid<em>, Riley?" Phoenix shouted. Riley glared at her and whacked her hands away as Tyler's grip on the rail of the viewing balcony tightened. Areyu's hard acceleration had thrown the dragon head-first into the tunnel as Tor leaned low across his back, twitching the guide reins subtly as she jinked around a hard turn, sliding past one of the other competitors.

"Phoenix, pipe down," Riley growled, completely serious. Phoenix hissed, and Riley slid something into her hand. Phoenix glanced down at it, and blinked. She dragged both Riley and Tyler off the gallery and back through the groudn crowds, into a secluded side alley.

"Where did you get this?" she whispered urgently. Her hand glowed slightly for a second, and subsided. She slid it back into Riley's palm, face marred by an grim expression.

"Planted on the course. My bet is that it'll activate the chromanite acid on Jehan's saddle, maybe other explosives on the course."

"_Chromanite_? We learnt about that in Defence. It can eat through anything, as long as the activation frequency is within the right bracket. It's _illegal_, especially the nanite kind."

Tyler tried to make his way out so he could see where Tor was. His phone rang, and he dug his hand into his pocket. It was an unknown number. He pressed the answer button, and there was static silence before a voice emitted from the speakers.

"You were wrong to meddle, and now you can watch as your price is paid."

Everything went up in lights.

* * *

><p>Tor shifted the reins right, arcing around another one of the hard turns peppering the course as the tunnel dropped abruptly and Areyu spiralled into a free-fall. She urged him to pour on the speed, screaming past another dragon as the Gs became near unbearable. He pulled into a clean level-out, shrieking in protest as his wings strained upward and outward, but quickly readjusted and gained as much acceleration as he could before tucking his wings in tightly and shooting through the barely-big-enough bottleneck to emerged into a tight tunnel on the other side. She barrel-rolled to avoid an array of long, blunt spikes that emerged from the walls at an alarming velocity, shooting up and rolling over the triple levelled bars. It was a wonder she hadn't crashed already, what with her not being Bonded like some of the others were; with no psychic connection with Areyu, she had to rely on the comparatively crude and inarticulate communication she could achieve with the guide reins. Even though the reins were incredibly sensitive and touch responsive, they could not compare to the subconscious level of understanding, shared instinct and empathy of a Bond.<p>

Obstacles presented themselves in her path at frightening speeds, and it took all her skill and concentration to get herself and Areyu through the vertical bars. Her dragon's wingsapn was set at almost a vertical, brushing against the floor and ceiling of the tunnel as she negotiated the obstacles. The tunnel looped unpredictably, and she swerved to avoid colliding with a bronze short-snouted some or other as the rider accidentally sent their dragon spiralling into the wall and out into one of the crash points in a tangle of wings and leather. Her gaze flicked back up as Areyu screeched, instinctively avoiding the floating plasma mines. She silently thanked her lucky stars that the twins had such an intelligent and capable dragon. They would've been toast otherwise.

She pulled smoothly around the inner edge of the tunnel, riding the slipstream of the Bonescale before pulling up and over to shoot ahead at the end of the turn. With a twitch of her eyeballs, the highly sensitive goggles sensed her movement and zoomed, narrowing in on Lupo some five hundred metres ahead. The cerulean dragon was wickedly fast, and even with Areyu pushing his limits it was difficult to keep up, let alone close the distance. The Broad-beaked Devourer was still ahead of her, blocking her view and cutting her off. There was no way she could get through, and Jehan was pulling ahead, rounding the curve-

The rider on the Devourer took one hand off the guide reins and lifted a tiny grey box into the air. Grey, metallic, a keypad-

_A remote_!

Then the tunnel exploded.

The concussive waves blew the shields to kingdom come, sending huge, semitransparent fragments of shield tumbling into the crowds and into the high rise buildings around them. The force of the blasts send Areyu into a wild spiral, and Tor gritted her teeth, clenching her fists as she tried to bring Areyu into a dive. The gap was tight as the street rushed to greet them at an alarming speed. Areyu pulled out at the last second, skimming over the road surface as Tor blasted a piece of shield headed for his head. She hissed as a piece of shrapnel struck her cheek, leaving a long, straight scratch as other fragments scratched into her coat and leathers. She ducked rapidly as a fist-sized chunk of rubble shot over her head. With a twitch of the reins, Areyu soared upward again, under the belly of the Devourer as the other dragon peeled off into a wide bank, jinking through the pieces of falling shield. The other half of the tunnel, still intact, shook with strain as the sonic sounders were activated again.

She barely registered the people screaming in the streets as shock waves rocked the buildings and roads. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, focused on weaving through the remaining obstacles and the shrapnel flying around her. There was another concussive blast, and a fireball engulfing the side of remaining tunnel. The riders still in the open broke and looped wildly away from the debris and blasts. Another fireball went off, this time ripping into the side of one of the apartment buildings and gutting several floors. Down below, magicians, fairies and off duty Specialists had already begun evacuating people and shielding them from the worst of the debris. A lightning ball with a faint but distinctive black aura arced up past her and struck the belly of the Devourer as the rider send a ball of dark energy into one of the other dragons. It wasn't Jehan and Lupo, but the rider went down in a ball of flailing leathery wings and pained screeching. Phoenix's lightning sphere crashed into the hard scaled hide of the Devourer just as it turned to pursue the cerulean streak arcing up and across the blue sky to dive for the tunnel entrance on the other side of the high-rise developments.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she hissed to herself as Jehan dived toward the remaining stretch of tunnel. The rider on the black Devourer lifted the remote into the air again, simultaneously charging up a plasma ball of swirling darkness energy. Just as the sounder blasts went off again, this time as a whining, high-pitched ripple in the air, the rider hurled the darkness ball at Jehan. Lupo barrell-rolled. The chromanite acid ate away at his harness as Jehan clawed at his eyes, ripping the goggles away from his face.

One moment passed in sickening slow motion.

He fell.

* * *

><p>A collective gasp arose from the evacuating citizens as they turned and paused for just a second, just one. Their eyes pinpointed the tiny black speck plummeting through the air, flying coat fluttering in the wind as they stood, abruptly silent in unison. Phoenix shouted wordlessly, covering her mouth with her hand. Riley flinched and buried her face in her sister's side as Tyler's eyes remained fixed on Jehan's falling figure, wanting to look away but being inexplicably transfixed upon the falling boy.<p>

She dove.

Areyu, sensing his mistress' desperation, dove sharply, driving into the free-fall like there was no tomorrow. Their velocity was so great that her vision was blurring, even with the sensitivity of her goggles' lenses; she could barely breath as Areyu adjusted his trajectory minutely, compensating for wind direction, speed, the velocity and speed of Jehan's fall... Slowly, a tight silver bubble formed around her and the dragon, trailing around them like the flames of an atmospheric re-entry; smears of silver light built in thick streaks around her until they were almost too brilliant to be seen as debris shattered and bounced off the silver shield like ineffectual dust. She flinched when Jehan bounced off one of the greater shards of debris exploding from the tunnel as another shockwave ripped across the sky. Areyu adjusted again, screaming downwards at a near-vertical. Tor calculated silently, teeth gritted, eyes narrowed and hands tight in her reins. She'd only have a couple of seconds to grab him once he was in her shield; if she stayed up for too long she'd be ripped out of her harness by the force of gravity.

_Three. Two. One._

She broke the shield, enveloping Jehan in the silver aura and pulling him in with her magic. He was half-unconscious, bruised and bloody from the shrapnel and his encounter with the shield rubble; he wasn't making a sound save for a low whimper she could barely hear. His eyes locked on hers for a moment before, glazed and a little bit foggy. As she stood up out of the saddle, Areyu twisted toward Jehan ever so slightly, giving her a couple of centimetres' advantage over gravity. Her hands stretched out, reaching as she leaned over, brushing his arm and then catching it in a firm monkey grip.

He smiled hazily at the fierce expression on her face.

The emerald dragon righted itself infinitesimally, breaking the dive into a level out. Tor signalled Areyu and the dragon rose up again, much more gently than they had flown all day. They flew in a wide arc as Tor dragged Jehan up onto the saddle behind her, scanning the ground and the sides of the high-rise buildings. His arms locked firmly around her waist in an instinctual response as she adjusted her arc, trailing back up into the sky and doing a fly-over. Jehan's weight was reassuringly solid against her back as she adjusted the contrast, ISO and magnification on her flying goggles. Tor's gaze raked the blue, blue sky, searching for a sign, a black speck or a fluttering shape behind one of the wispy clouds floating in the ether. There was no trace of the black Devourer or its rider.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you're okay?" Alainn asked, fussing with her brother's bandages while a medic shone a torch in his eyes.<p>

"No concussion," the medic said, "but you should rest for a couple of days. There's nothing major, and there's unlikely to be scarring."

Alainn nodded officiously and went back to magically swapping Jehan's leathers for a t-shirt and a pair of pyjama pants. Jehan sighed, leaning back on the chaise lounge in Alainn's office, closing his eyes and snuggling his face into the goose-feather pillow on the lounge.

"Food," he mumbled as his stomach growled. Alainn chuckled and ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Definitely okay," Tyler mumbled, taking his hair of of the braid it'd been in as Phoenix absently wrapped her arm around Riley's shoulders, giving a brief squeeze and kissing the top of her sister's head. Tor waited in the doorway as a Magix council official exited with the stacks of forms she'd had to fill out regarding the incident. Since she'd hijacked Tyler's dragon, she'd had to clear her brother's name, and then prove she had a license, and explain her involvement. Riley had been pulled in, and she tried to cover up her use of the technically high-level security clearance eyescreens as much as she could. There'd be a formal investigation, and she'd need to give testimony later, but they were done for the day.

"Ry," Tor called, "they still need you to fill some forms. Phoenix, have you called your parents?"

Phoenix nodded as Riley slid past her, grabbing the pen offered by another police representative as she settled down to a stack of paperwork. Tyler shuffled past her, tapping at his phone as Phoenix went out to sign her part of the Civil Investigation Confidentiality Act. Alainn wiped her hands off on her pants. Jehan smiled at her slightly, and she kissed his forehead before exiting to grill her stable hands for not having better security, and to help her boys hold back the wave of news teams converging upon their door. There was wild speculation, mostly involving conspiracy theories and grudges from rival racing teams; Teen Fairy had already invented a whole 'bitter lover getting revenge but foiled by a mysterious guardian angel force' story. The press representation from the teen publication side of things had been uncannily aggressive, and Alainn had decided to negotiate some sort of exclusive to get them off Jehan's back about the whole routine.

"Hey, Jeh," she said, sitting on the side of the chaise lounge as Jehan's bare feet dangled over the edge. He mumbled into the pillow, and she couldn't stop herself from stroking the hair away from his face. She smiled vaguely when he made a small, funny noise.

"So..."

He cracked one eyelid open, pouting slightly. "Hmm?"

"You owe me one."

Jehan eyebrow twitched upward. "Owe you one, what? Cafe breakfast? Bunch of flowers, set of concert tickets?"

"Nah," she said, "That's not really what I meant, but I might just take you up on those concert tickets. Depends on what concert, though."

"Love Never Dies?"

"Tempting, but no. Something more."

"Battle Angel, the Out of Eden concert?"

"Getting warmer."

"I'll get back to you on that one, say."

He groaned and pushed himself up off the pillow, levering into a technically upright position. Their gazes locked, swimming in the chocolate depths of each other's eyes. She shuffled closer, her legs pressing against his as she lightly traced the contour of his cheek with a finger. His lips parted slightly as he looked into her eyes. There were such brilliant green and hazel flecks in them, brilliant sparks of colour that he could only see this close. Unconsciously, he lifted his hand to cup her cheek, lost, hazy and floating, unable to look away. There was a light in her eyes, something different from the fierce blaze of earlier in that day; something softer but no less brilliant and not out of place in the bold, proud attractiveness of her features. She wasn't conventionally pretty, but that made her all the more- He broke first, looking away as a stain of colour spread across his cheeks.

She was startled by the intensity of his eyes. There was an astounding incandescence there, something that seemed primal and unpredictable, but at the same time, gentle, safe. She sucked in a breath, feeling flustered

"Um, I- m-maybe, this isn't-?" she stuttered, feeling completely foolish and out of character. He peered at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked away quickly, scrutinising the pattern on the damask upholstery of the chaise lounge. His calloused hand cupped her chin, lifting her face to his as her eyes flew open.

"Jeh-"

Then his mouth was on hers and cutting off her speech as she smiled and slid her hands into his hair. He needed to stop this damn habit of his, interrupting her with sweet little kisses and making her all melty and mushy and foggy in her head. As disappointing as it was to cut of the buzz she got from lip-locking with her boy, she broke the kiss, and growled playfully at him.

"You need to stop interrupting me," she whispered, brushing a ghost of a kiss across his ear and returning her attentions to his lips.

* * *

><p>Bloom sighed as Sky slid his hand around hers, staring out into the twinkling glow of the lights blazing across metropolitan Tokyo. She smiled as she picked out the swirling colours of the neon lights, fizzing in and out like the glow of magic. She couldn't have picked a better location for their annual reunion dinner, with Phoenix to thank for- she'd very nearly picked a country club in Altraveria before Musa's oldest daughter had reminded her respectfully that country club really mean <em>country <em>club in the aforementioned realm, and not in a picturesque or pleasant way at all. Country meant _country_, complete with hay and maypole dancing and country cheese-rolling festivals and watery, damp-smelling beer. Sky's attentions turned out through the floor-to-ceiling windows as Kazul's antics elicited a violent but utterly amusing response from Raze and Jake. Flora's twins were locked in a vicious battle of thumb war, neither showing any sign of what had gone down in Magix just earlier in that day. There was a vague shadow in Flora's eyes as she turned to study her eldest children, but that quickly disappeared as Taz and Helia snuck up on her, bombarding her with a tickle attack. Bloom grinned as Flora flailed helplessly, screaming with laughter as Layla and Nabu egged them on. She lunged after the two as Riley pounced on her daddy, squashing his magenta spikes and cackling as they rose up into their former shape.

"Come on, love," Sky said to her. "Didn't you have a speech to make?"

She nodded, smiling contentedly, and accepted the champagne flute he offered her. She grabbed a silver dessert spoon off the table and tapped gently on the glass, making a clear ringing sound. Kataya saw her trying to grab the attention of the wildly laughing families, and grabbed a spare glass, tapping with equal, if not more, ferocity. The din only came to a halt when Kataya's champagne flute broke and her spoon flew halfway across the room, hitting her older brother on the nose.

"Ow!" Ambrose wailed, and Kata blinked, before diving under the table with no thought for her lovely chiffon dress.

Bloom smiled indulgently as the squabbling slowly came to a halt. Kataya had the decency to poke her head out from under the table, looking at her expectantly as she raised her glass.

"I'd like to propose a toast. A toast to how far we've come. A toast to the twenty-seven years that we've shared, twenty-seven years of friendship, hardship, danger, challenge, love, wonder, inexpressible joy and irreplaceable memories; twenty-seven years fighting our battles, learning ourselves, finding who we are and finding our paths in this world."

Bloom pushed back her flaming red hair, aqua eyes soft and smiling as she looked at the families around her. Layla had her youngest son tucked under her arm as her twins held hands with their father. Flora's girls had pulled their brother and parents into a group hug, while Stella's eldest girl slung both arms around her siblings. Stella and Brandon embraced, snuggling contentedly as they looked at her.

Twenty-seven years. How time had flown by them.

It seemed like only yesterday when Raze and Jake had been romping in the mud together. Now, bother were growing into beautiful young women (both under a bit more duress than others, she noted with a smile). It was impossible to express the love she held for all the people gathered there, from her own children to Musa's impossible Riley, to Stella's gender-bending Alethea, to Tecna's ferociously intelligent but adorably short-tempered Cameron, to Layla's bookish younger son, buxom eldest girl and blithe eldest boy, to Flora's ever unpredictable three and even Roxy's boys, rarely seen and visited but still fond in her memories and recollections; they were like her own sons and daughters and she cherished each of them equally. It was even more of a Herculean task to correctly put to words how much respect, gratitude and love she held for her contemporaries- each of the girls and each of the former Specialists in equal and abounding measure.

"I'll never forget the day we all met each other, and I'm sure none of us ever will. Well, the ones that were there. Kids, you weren't even a twinkle in our eyes yet. But don't worry, we're getting to that bit.

"I must confess, I first thought that we'd never pull together, with me feigning as Varanda of Vallisto, and with our wildly disparate personalities and interests. But, you girls, you wonderful, wonderful people, embraced our differences and banded together despite the quarrels and rough patches and the dangers and challenges we faced. Those years were the best but the most challenging of our lives-"

"Hear, hear!"

"- but they changed us all to what we've become, to _who_ we've become. Those battles, those dangers – the Trix, Darkar, Baltor, the Fairy Hunters- they helped us find ourselves and connect with our truest sentiments and souls, and I'm oddly thankful for that.

"I'd like to also toast the unfailing support and love of our boys, our constant heroes and faithful allies. With all the trouble we've pulled you into, it's a wonder we didn't get dumped in sophomore year, and we couldn't be more thankful. We wouldn't have triumphed without your ceaseless devotion and boundless energy. When I say this, I say it for all of us, from then, from now and from forever in the future: we love you guys. Thank you so much, for so many things. We've had our rough patches then and again, but without you we'd never have gotten to today. Thank you for being our constant support, our friends, lovers, confidantes, and the fathers of our children. At the risk of sounding repetitive, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, etcetera, so on and so forth.

"Now we get down to you small people."

She was interrupted by Raze shouting mock-indignantly, "If six foot is small then I don't know what the world has come to!"

A round of laughter was startled out of them all as Raze stamped her gold-sandalled foot for comedic effect. Orion stared at her, agape, as if he were considering the ramifications. Her youngest was still very innocent, and had no understanding of sarcasm (thank the Dragon). His expression of shock morphed into utter horror as he realised that if six foot was small, under five might as well be non-existent. She had to join in laughing with that one.

"As I was saying," Bloom continued, "You children. Words cannot express how precious you all are to us. No matter how much sleep deprivation and parental angst you caused us in your younger years, to the dismal and not-so-dismal grades, wacky stunts and utter, abject hilarity caused by your then extreme literal-ness, we've never regretted having you and we never will. We'd like to wish you not only thanks for bringing such a joy and richness to our lives, and unique and inexpressible love that only parents can know, but happiness and success in your future. May your lives be just as happy and fulfilled as ours have been; may you find a true love and a true calling.

"What started late at night in our old Alfea dorm has become so much more. Winx doesn't just mean the six of us, fighting evil and saving universes; Winx means all of us, and the phenomena that have shaped our lives to make us what we are today. My greatest hope is that you, too, will experience this sense of such self-awareness and true connection with your spirit, under whatever circumstances may arise. Live every day with no regrets. Live like there's no tomorrow and never, ever hold back from what you believe is right and true in your heart of hearts.

"So, without further ado, I toast to us, and every thing we've been, done, and experienced in the past twenty-seven years. To us!"

"To us!" came the resounding cheer as the sky lit up with fireworks. They rushed to the floor-to ceiling windows, faces suffused with wonder as the fireworks bloomed across the sky, reflected in their eyes.

Aerin glanced at Cameron, staring out into the lights with the reflections dancing off the lenses of his glasses. He glanced at her, just for a second, and even the dazzling flashes of effervescent colour couldn't mask the shadows in his eyes.

* * *

><p>Hi. The name's Evansleigh, Caspian Evansleigh (if that didn't make you groan at the sheer force of cliché, then I don't know what's wrong with you, and don't go asking). Jehan passed this little profile meme thingy over to me, supposedly from Raziel who got it from Phoenix who got it off the net somewhere and who knows with the internet. So many travesties of website design O-O...<p>

Nickname: Caspy, which is oddly ghost-like (re: friendly child ghost from some Earth cartoon), and oddly enough, Piano. Don't even ask. I don't know myself.

Favourite Food: In a time of food connoisseur-ism, I'm just one of those people who couldn't give a flying rat's behind. I freely admit that I like shitty microwaved/home-baked goodies like fish fingers and instant pizza. People seriously need to get off their white truffle pedestals and step down into the wonders of cheap and cheerful instant noodles and every-day fast foods. The one exception I'll make, though, is a nice Kobe beef steak. Nothing beats that.

Favourite Colour: Do I even have a favourite colour? Yes, in fact, I do. It's a very specific shade of indigo, hex code 100133, RGB 16,1,51.

Favourite Hobby: Hobbies of mine mainly involve pranking people out of their wits, browsing , calling Cass at weird hours and hoverboarding. Yeah. Fun.

Favourite Pet: Micro pigs! Ohmahgoshsocute! In complete and total honesty, yes, I have a thing for micro pigs. Gosh dang, they are just so infinitely awesome.

Ideal Girlfriend: I'm pretty flexible, as long as she's smart, independently minded and unafraid of expressing her opinions. A pretty girl would be nice, as long as she's pretty on the inside as well as the out.

Best Friends: Ty-ty of Linphea and Cassie The Evil Twin Sister.

Favourite Movies: I don't really have a long enough attention span to watch movies, but I guess Cass' tastes have rubbed off on me. The only thing we don't really share in common is my undying love of action-comedy-bungling-spy-police movies. Think Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Johnny English, Get Smart, Austin Powers and the like. It's like my secret vice. My secret, secret, _secret_ vice.

Loves: Microwave foods, that specific shade of indigo, lazy holidays at home, flip-flops, ice cream and swimming in wave pools.

Hates: Sand. Eurgh. Aside from that, romance novels, Tyler's screamo alarm clock, shit pop music, and probably the Twilight Saga. It's not a blasted saga. Just. No.

Favourite Music: Jazz, jazz improvisation, a good Spanish guitar here and there...

Favourite Shoes: Whatever fits and is comfortable to walk in at any given time. I don't really care.

Favourite Subject: History of Combat, general History, Engineering and Technical Disassembly. They call it disassembly, but it's really just going crazy with spare parts and trying to make the afterburners on our squad ships go better.

Favourite Attack: Anything and everything that goes boom.


	10. Chapter 10

**9: A Fatal Addiction To Cuteness  
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Frost draped herself across the black velvet couch, the silk chiffon babydoll whispering against the skin of her slim legs. The light from their fringed floor lamp traced every contour of her body in gold lines, picking up the shine in her crystal white hair as she pretended to read a slim, handsomely bound volume. The warm gold light spilled across the plush carpet in the girls' common room, casting a dramatic black shadow that bled into the dimness at the edges of the room. Their chandelier winked with light, reflecting the rays of light bleeding from the light source; they never turned the chandelier on anyway. Darkness was, really, so much more conducive to sinister plots and damnable deeds.

Spark smirked slowly as the eyes of their lovely little playthings automatically followed the slow and deliberately seductive movement of Frost's body as she turned the page, lingering ever so slightly with her fingers before turning over elegantly, feet kicking into the air as she exaggerated the curve of her spine. They looked delicious, all docile and submissive and under their control, tousled and gorgeous. They'd been a lot more gorgeous when they'd just arrived and she didn't know that Spark had had her way with them, all of them, but still.

"Oh, you're such a tease," Spark accused languorously. Frost smirked at her as her eyes flicked at their toys. There were three of them, all lined up against one wall with identical glazed-over eyes and vacant expressions.

"You know we have to get rid of them sooner or later," she said as she turned another page and lingered on it, swishing her feet in the air.

"They were useful," Spark admitted, "But after a day or two their attractiveness as eye candy diminishes somewhat."

"But they were only useful to a degree," Shade called, her attention focused on the tiny doll she was painting. She'd already sewn the doll's tiny clothes and fixed up its over-long magenta hair, and was now concentrating on painting its features. She dipped her paintbrush into the pale pink gloss paint and filled in the contour of the doll's upper lip, dragging the tip of the brush around its well-formed cupid's bow. Hazel glass eyes stared straight ahead, uncannily life-like in the doll's porcelain face.

"It's comforting to know that those Red Fountain boys haven't suddenly experienced a leap in their efficiency, effectiveness or intelligence, but really, you think they'd be a bit more _able_ in roughing a couple of skinny little freshies. I didn't get enough blood for two of these figures, seeing as they went ballistic on the one that threw himself in front of the prince of the double thrones."

"Iron out your subliminal programming," Frost purred, her eyebrow twitching. Shade stood up, lip curling slightly, walking across the the lounge with an exaggerated sway to her hips. Their borrowed boys stared at the movement of her rear end as if it were a lot more voluptuous than it actually was.

"See?" she accused, poking Frost in the arm, "_That's _ how instinctually driven they are. So excuse me for not programming over their primal natures. It's _difficult_, do you know that? It's really fucking hard to program without damaging them so much that they'll arouse suspicion! And that's not even mentioning what their keys look like, and how hard keys are to tailor individually! It's a waste of time and materials and effort to do such intense subliminal programming over instinct, did you know that? What a waste of good materials! They don't even make nice voodoos, like the one I'm trying to do now! And on top of that, there's a nice big serving of hypocrisy too! Don't even get me started on how absolutely you screwed up on the Day of The Rose gig- I mean, come on! A fairy and one of the so-called useless Specialists were able to rat out your scheme while dragging along an eleven-year-old kid sister. Hell! It was the kid sister doing the epic take-down of your whole half-baked scheme, and an un-Bonded rider who outflew you with less experience and a dragon only just coming into its prime! So don't you go around with your freaking superiority complex and tell me I need to _fucking iron out my subliminal programming_!"

She stalked back to her desk and grabbed a tiny vial, opening a tiny door in the doll's chest. Muttering a complex spell, she unstoppered the vial and poured the flakes of dried blood into the compartment in the doll's body. The doll glowed blood red for a moment, before she closed the doll and sealed it with a touch. Both its eyes glowed with pinpricks of amber light, oddly alive behind the tiny pair of black-framed spectacles Shade had constructed.

Spark sat up straight in her chair while Frost swung her legs back down to the carpet, standing up. Her book lay discarded on the sofa as she stood over her sister and the icon in her hands.

"It's finished?" Frost asked, tracing the pale outline of the doll's face with one finger.

"One of my finer works," Shade said, picking up the photograph on her desk under the colour test sheet. "It's better because I had a good base to work off. The prettier the boy, the easier it is for me to make as nice voodoo out of him. It's too bad all my good work will be worn away, though."

Spark picked up the photograph of their victim. "Ooh, I could just _eat him up_. I bet he'd be delicious."

"Too young for you, and destined to die, anyway," Frost admonished. "Keep your promiscuity within certain bounds, please. Unless you'd like to make necrophilia one of your multitudinous kinks?"

Spark shuddered as Frost clicked her fingers, exchanging her silk babydoll for a black leather jacket and skin-tight pants. Her heeled boots sunk slightly into their plush carpet, but her cousin kept her balance.

"Still," Frost pouted, "It's too bad this little boy will waste away and die slowly. It's so much better when they die fast and leave a beautiful corpse. We've settled the location?"

"Yes, but let's get rid of our toys first," Shade said, her nod sending her glossy chocolate waves rippling. She waved a hand in their direction, and their eyes rolled up in their heads as they slumped to the carpet.

"They'll automatically de-program in a familiar setting," she muttered, waving her hand again and teleporting back to their dorm room in Red Fountain with a flash.

Frost clicked her fingers as she picked up the doll and wrapped it in the length of black cotton draped over the edge of her table, joining hands with her sisters before the three of them disappeared in a curl of blue smoke. When they reappeared, it was in a stone plaza with white buildings on all sides. The light of the half-moon reflected off the white stone, washing the plaza with an eerie white glow. The only sound in the still plaza was the trickling of the silver water of the tiny fountain in the centre. Frost tugged Spark and Shade forward, and Shade gently unwrapped the doll, holding it up and letting light touch it with silver.

"Ready?" Spark asked. She nodded. Pulling her sleeves up the elbows, she placed the doll under the water, holding it there as Spark and Frost placed their hands on her shoulders.

"The incantation," Frost said, momentarily pulling the sleeve of her jacket up the reveal the blue ink drawing on the inside of her arm. Both of Shade's black marks were visible, and Spark had revealed her purple mark. They spoke the chant as their marks glowed brilliantly for a second. Then all was dim and silent again, the sisters long gone from the stone plaza.

* * *

><p>He stared at the ceiling, too exhausted to move.<p>

The blank canvas of white stretched above him, and he let his eyes unfocus so that everything became a hazy blur. Not that he could see anything, anyway. His glasses lay on the bedside table, repaired with Aerin's magic. His thoughts drifted in a non-sequitur blur of half-formed semi-fantasies. There was no method or meaning in them, like white noise in the background. He'd woken up in the same white blur, mechanically going through the motions and relying on muscle memory to get him down to breakfast and though classes. Sure, he'd been tired before, yesterday, the day before, the week before that, but today was different. He'd mechanically nodded himself through the conversations Ambrose had tried to rattle up with him, hearing but not listening to his rambling speeches without really understanding what he was saying. The other boy might as well have been speaking n00bish (no offence intended upon him), and although he was fluent in many languages, n00bish was not one of them. As soon as classes were over, he made an almost subconscious decision to skip any other activities he had that day. Stumbling up stairs, into an elevator; staggering down the corridor with his head pounding like a jackhammer was slamming against the inside of his skull-

Hotaru pushed the door open, walking over to Ambrose' desk to collect his sharpener. Hotaru's long, delicate fingers shifted through the mess of loose paper sheets on his room-mate's desk, gently dislodging a mountain of CDs onto the other boy's bed before resuming his meticulous search. Cameron smiled vaguely. He was always so careful, with a light touch and meticulous attention to detail. No-one would ever have predicted the strength that belied his willowy frame. That was always their downfall. He let out a deep sigh, turning his eyes back to the ceiling as he tried to detach himself from the ache in his head. It was a persistent, dull throbbing, not like a normal headache. Normal headaches would abate at times, ebbing and flowing like the movement of the ocean tides. This one was constant, persistent, like a high-pitched monotone sound that you couldn't find, couldn't get rid of. It _hurt_.

"Hmm?" Hotaru murmured, "Cameron? Shouldn't you be at Applied Physics accelerated class?"

He smiled weakly to assuage Hotaru's impending anxiety and let his thoughts drift. Hotaru quietly skirted around the piles of Ambrose' junk littering the floor and hovered over him, his face shadowed by the curtain of his dark hair.

"Cameron?" he asked, "Are you feeling alright?"

He tried to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse croak. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"Yeah," he said. "Just tired."

"Tired?" The other boy seemed puzzled. "We barely even broke a sweat in Swordplay, and the rest were easy classes. How could you have-? Have you been sleeping properly? Have you been eating properly? You haven't been pushing yourself too hard, have you?"

He nearly laughed at the sight of his friend fussing like his mother. "Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I'm just tired."

Cameron just turned over and pulled his comforter up to his chin, snuggling into the warmth and softness of his bed.

"Hmm," he mumbled, "Sleepy."

Hotaru looked doubtfully at him, and exited with his sharpener, tapping his long fingers against the plastic item. There was a bang against the wall as Kazul presumably launched himself at the other boy, shouting something as he bubbled over with excitement. Ambrose wasn't back from Duelling Club yet, as was evidenced by the lack of heavy footsteps and the clattering of duelling equipment being thrown to the floor. Neither was his room-mate throwing his dirty clothes into the laundry basket in nothing but his underwear. A little voice told him it was his turn to do the washing. Cameron ignored it and burrowed further under his covers, fumbling for his spare pillow and throwing it over his head. The white blur faded through grey to become the black of oblivion.

The rays of the following morning's sunlight. stabbing into his eyes, made him want to scream. He curled up under his covers, screwing his eyes shut, trying to stifle the strangled whimpers forcing themselves through his lips. It hurt to move, and his muscles screamed with protest. His bones seemed to creak and crack as his hands trembled and his head throbbed. The dull ache hadn't disappeared, and was relentless in its persistence. The whole sensation, of being achy and weak and sore all over, and still so, _so _tired, was overwhelming. And he was _cold_. So achingly cold,

The other boy in the room groaned and rolled over in a tangle of sheets, falling off the bed and landing on the floor with a dull thud.

"Ow!" Ambrose muttered, letting lose a string of expletives as he tried to untangle the sheets around his legs and torso. After several minutes worth of thrashing, rolling around and whacking himself against the side of his bed, he managed to get free and stood, stretching and rubbing his poor, abused shoulder. The sunlight pouring in through the floor to ceiling windows was bright and he based in it, relishing the feel of its glow on his face and arms. His lips slowly curled into a smile as he did a quick, happy spin on the spot, before turning around briskly to march into the bathroom before either Cameron or Hotaru had time to claim it. Cam was probably already up and grabbing a drink in the common room; a quick glance over at his bed would confirm it-

Ambrose jerked midstep and had to windmill to regain his balance. The covers had formed a messy lump, pillows were thrown everywhere, and a tuft of magenta hair stuck out from one end of the concoction. He blinked and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Then he pinched his arm to make sure he was awake, before slapping himself across the face to make doubly sure. There was no way that that could be Cameron. First of all, he was still in bed, which defied all reason; secondly, his bed was a _mess_! Ambrose' room-mate was a tidy sleeper, hardly moving all night and always neatly turned on his side, facing the wall. There was no way that this, this, _cocoon_ could've been Cameron.

He tiptoed toward the other boy, gingerly poking at the covers with one finger. No response was elicited, and he spent the next five minutes poking the inert lump with an increasing feeling of trepidation. Finally, he hesitantly untucked one side of the cocoon lifting it off the other boy.

That's when Ambrose realised that there was something seriously wrong.

* * *

><p>Mirta turned away from the board and faced her History class, clasping her hands behind her back. The girls were arrayed around the room in individual desks; the girls at the back seemed to be half-asleep while attention was held at the front, primarily by the Zenithian princess and a small, dark-haired girl with glasses.<p>

She pushed her hair away from her face and gestured at the board, beginning her summary of the lesson's contents. "And so the five contributors to the Lycaeian civil conflict of CE187-5 are first, the poor civil relations between the monarch and the people; second, a lack of resources to communicate the needs of the people to them; third and most arguably, the corrupt and intentional disruption of the distribution and enforcement of the monarch's ruled movements-"

"Most arguably, professor," Aerin interrupted, "Some primary sources show that the distribution of resources was limited due not to corruption but the absence of the necessary channels through which to conduct these needs. Simply put, there was no infrastructure and no labour to conduct the decrees of the monarch, which were impossible to fulfil given the state of the Lycaeian economy at the time; in a loop of continuing cause and effect, the initial absence of the basic needs of the people lead to dissension which triggered the passing of orders which couldn't be enforced. The lack of enforcement and resources to distribute led to further mistrust and public suspicion of the ruling body, which would have happened anyway regardless of any corruption or sabotage."

"But the fourth constituent would have been the representation of the people pro se, advocated by several of the High Thanes of Alucar. Because of the inundation of wrongfully denied citizens, the courts of law were forced to find most in favour with the law, exacerbating the mood of discontent," the other girl called out, "Because of the actions of the High Thanes, the seed of conflict was effectively planted, contributing to the reason of intentional disruption raised in the third contributor."

"And as an effect of the third and fourth constituents, the suppliers of the ruling body were found to be within the law in reserving certain materials and resources for their own efforts, under pro se representation and for the necessity of survival as dictated in the second act of the third Creed. Thus, the increased limitation of material supply flowed into the first contributor, contributing to a larger cycle of vicious effects," Mirta finished, smiling. "Very good, Riah, Aerin. We'll be continuing our study of civil and intersocietal conflict next lesson with a study of planetary alliances and the conditions for declaration of war. Homework is the reading from pages 112 to 124 from your textbook, and a two hundred word summary of the information on these pages. We'll be having a quiz on Friday, just before you go off to camp next week-"

Mirta was interruped, again, by a knock on the door. Impatiently, she blew her hair out of her eyes and propped her hands on her hips.

"Come in," she called, unable to keep the vaguest tinge of displeasure out of her voice. Her students took this as a sign to start packing up, save the ones who hadn't bothered to take notes in the first place. She didn't say anything to them. She'd found through experience that they'd all pull rank and stare at her haughtily. Mirta had long since discovered that it was intensely satisfying to concoct vilely difficulty exams and watch as those society study slobs crash and burn. The door swung open smoothly, which was unsurprising considering how well maintained Alfea was, but the figure who stepped through was entirely unexpected. The woman seemed to a be a junior aide, or one of the assistants to the teaching, expect for the fact that she wore a white coat with Red Fountain's coat of arms, modified to include a winged staff and three six-pointed stars. The woman flashed her inter-school visitor pass and smoothed down her coat.

"Student Aerin of Zenith is required in Ms. Faragonda's office," the medimage said, scanning the room with an apparent sense of absolute impassivity. Aerin frowned slightly and picked up her binder and shoulder bag, pushing her chair in neatly. It skidded across the floor with a loud shriek, which broke the silent mood of expectation the rest of the girls held. With the awful noise came a barrage of hushed inquiries, furtive glances and whispers of a sort that could be classified as being vaguely disagreeable. Mirta waved a hand and shooed Aerin out.

"As I said, we'll continue the case studies next lesson-"

Aerin walked out and the door swung shut. The bell went not five seconds later, and over the scraping of chairs, Mirta's words were drowned out. Cass stared at the door, a slightly puzzled expression on her face. Jake nudged her and she stood, gathering up her books and shoving her chair in with her knee.

"So, what do you think Aerin was in for?" Tor asked, slinging an arm around Phoenix.

"Dunno, maybe she did really awesomely in that Technomancy competition we did two weeks ago?" she replied, gesturing.

Raze shrugged. "They said the results wouldn't be out until after term break. That can't be it."

"The Red Fountain Technical Disassembly Open Challenge Speed Battle?"

"Nope," Jake said, "Tyler PM-ed me and told me they'd moved it down to the week after next week because of the schedule clash with our camp."

"Then what in heck could it be?" Cass shook her head and pushed her corkscrew curls out of her face as the five-minute break bell rang. She glanced at her timetable and picked up the pace. Potionology was on the other side of the building and she did _not_ want to miss anything before exams rolled round.

Potionology came and went in a stack of notes five pages long. No sign of Aerin. Fifth period Rhetoric and lunch arrived with not so much as a whiff of the Zenithian or her ever-present levitating palmtop. Sixth period Etiquette and Diplomacy was cut short on account of Professor DuFour's exam supervision role among the senior graduation certificate practice exams, and seventh period was a free. With no classes, the girls went up to their dorm for free study in much greater comfort than if they had been in the library or the study hall.

"And in conclusion to the whole Lycaeian conflict business, I think that History is dumb and we should get ourselves a team name," Phoenix concluded, slamming her pencil down upon her textbook and looking expectantly at the rest of the girls.

"A team name," Jake said blandly, putting down her highlighter.

"Yeah!" Phoenix said enthusiastically, "Like our Moms had a team name, the Winx? So we need a team name too!"

"A team name," Jake restated, her enthusiasm still at zero. Tor looked up from her packing, a stack of neatly folded shirts still in hand, and deigned to raise an eyebrow.

"Well, the idea in itself isn't entirely offensive," Tor said, "But come on. Where would we start?"

"Even if we did want to make up a team name, we'd still have to have Aerin here. Otherwise it wouldn't be the whole gang," Raze countered.

The door flew open and Tor turned, muttering, "Speak of the Devil..."

Aerin stumbled in, trembling and ashen under her pale complexion. Her hands shook and both her bag and binder fell to the floor with two dull thuds. Paper spilled across the floor, covered in tight, tiny handwriting. When Aerin took two more steps, stumbled and sank to her knees. That was when Cass realised something was wrong. When Phoenix got up and scurried over to Aerin, putting her hand on the other girl's shoulder, Aerin just...dissolved. It seemed as if she had been filled with air and someone had just let all that air out, as she sagged and bowed her head, her hair curtaining her face as her shoulders shook slightly. The long, caramel locks were kinked and knotted, a subtle but noticeable difference from their usual pin-straight sleekness. Sign number two.

When Aerin choked up and dissolved into sobs, that's when Cass knew there was something seriously wrong.

* * *

><p>"How could this have happened?" Tecna yelled, clenching her fists as she stared Riven straight in the eye. The man crossed his arms didn't so much as glare at her, and instead turned to Helia beside him. Timmy stared at the bank of monitors beside the bed as they beeped softly.<p>

"You were supposed to be keeping an eye on things," she accused, turning to Helia and stabbing a finger at him. Helia sighed deeply and pushed his fringe out of his eyes, reaching for the hair tie around his wrist and pulling his blue-black hair into a ponytail.

"I'm not omniscient," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "I can't be everywhere at once. Did it occur to you that Red Fountain is a huge school? Even with our state of the art surveillance systems there are going to be blind spots, and that's not even counting breach of privacy laws. And I can't be everywhere at once, neither can I teleport. So get off my fucking back, alright? We're doing every damn thing we can to figure out what this is, and how it happened!"

"How what happened? We don't even know if it's a disease or a spell or deliberate or just coincidental! We don't know _anything_!"

On the other side of the infirmary bed, Saladin folded his hands and looked at all of them.

"It's so obvious," he said quietly. Helia looked at his uncle sharply.

"If it's so painfully obvious, then go a head, Uncle, just go ahead," he muttered. Saladin shot him a disapproving look.

"Respect, boy," he said. "Of course it's obvious. How can a boy go from being perfectly healthy to being dangerously malnourished in one night? It's simple. A wasting spell."

Tecna snarled and punched the wall as Timmy pushed Cameron's hair out of his face. Her baby boy's eyes were closed, and his hair was matted and messy. He'd sunken into himself, with his cheeks forming pale hollows and his bones jutting out to press against his skin. Lying there, in that white bed, seeming paler and more fragile by the hour as they just stood there. Tecna sighed deeply. She couldn't let Aerin in, no, but she deserved to know at least. It was her baby brother, after all, and despite their prickliness on both parts, they still cared about each other, a lot.

"Have you called Aerin?" she asked. Her own voice sounded so very tired and far-away.

"Already did," Helia said. "Gave her the news just as you arrived. She asked to have some time to herself, and just arrived back in her dorm."

She stared at him, before laughing bitterly. "Eyes and ears everywhere. Ha! My ass."

Riven snorted at her reaction and Timmy scrutinised her long and hard.

She murmured to herself, "A wasting spell... And there are signs that he was attacked, before. The healing scars on his arms and back?"

"Alright, suppose it is," Helia said, correcting himself when Saladin glared at him, "Okay. A wasting spell. We can establish that they probably have political motives, since you do have a lot of sway on Zenith. But a wasting spell? And no note, no demands? Why not Aerin, the Crown Princess, and why not a more direct method of assassination, if they don't intend to claim a demand or a ransom to deactivate the spell? There are just too many questions left unanswered."

"If it is a wasting spell, we need to identify what kind it is, if it has a key, and how we can break it," she said, pulling out her phone. "I'm calling in."

"Everyone?" Timmy asked.

She nodded. "Everyone. This is serious. We need to put everyone on the alert. If they're targeting us then they'll be targeting others, too."

"We need as much information as possible, and most of it will probably come from Cameron," Helia said. "I can probably get the medimages to run up a fortifying draught but it won't last long, considering the spell."

"Do it," Tecna said. Riven's hologram com buzzed and he flipped it open, frowning.

"What? From Accommodation block 2? Are you sure? Alright. Bring them in."

"What was that?" Helia asked.

"Accommodation block 2. Our truants are back, and check this," he said, frowning deeply. "They've been subliminally programmed."

* * *

><p>When he woke, Aerin was there (again), sitting guard over him while the others whispered and shifted around. A soft, constant beeping in the background cut through the whispers of the adults around him, and for the first time in what felt like ages, his mind cleared. Aerin was there. He felt safe, and although it would be like pulling teeth to get him to admit it, Aerin was the only person he one hundred percent, irrevocably and unconditionally trusted in the whole universe.<p>

"Huh?"

Aerin smiled and pushed the hair out of his face. "Tell me everything."

He did. Soon he was aware of Helia, a shadow in the background, listening and watching careful, methodically storing away details as his mother and father ran through the specifics and technicalities. Riven simply stood there in the at ease position, frowning and looking straight ahead. He ran through the details as best as he could, but things were still blurry and out of focus, faulty images in in photographic memory. As he spoke, Aerin's warm solid presence reassured him, her hand clasped loosely around his own as if she were channelling her energy through their point of contact and into his body. Mid-way between describing the details of the surprise attack and the point at which they got out the knife, Bloom and Stella portalled in, still attired in their state robes; Layla portalled in soon after with damp hair in a messy twist, wearing a loose summer sloppy joe and a sarong knotted at the waist. Flora stepped out of the wall in a black long sleeved unitard with the front zipper pulled down to show an olive green tank top beneath the form-fitting but rather outlandish suit. She'd emptied her weapons belt except for a single handgun and a spare magazine.

"Under no provocation?" Helia asked, leaning forward in his seat as Flora toyed with her pen, jotting notes down at random intervals. Cameron shook his head. He finished his story as the momentary clarity he had experienced turned into more of the same white blur, and he fell into a half-lucid daze.

"Cameron's said that he didn't encounter any magicians or witches," Bloom said. "Then how could he have been placed under a wasting spell? I don't think that's it."

"But it could still be a magically enhanced disease," Layla argued. "The trace of the disease, if it was a virus or infection, could have been placed on the knife as a serum or residue. I can think of a dozen different diseases that could have been used-"

"But then the effects would be able to reversed with common medicine and the fortifying potion would have a greater effect," Stella called back, momentarily stunning everyone with actual validity of her argument.

Flora's cat-like green eyes flicked over her notes, scanning the page for crucial details as Helia filled in the blanks. Her eyes narrowed, a furrow of confusion forming between her eyebrows.

"Cam," she said, "_how _exactly did they attack you with that knife?"

He made some vague gestures and she gazed at him levelly. "In words, please."

"Slashing," he managed, still waving his hands to some sort of effect, demonstrating the wide, slashing blows.

"Slashing, not stabbing?"

He shook his head. "Slashing."

Bloom, Riven and Layla stared at their exchange while Saladin and Helia simply waited, impassive in the background. Flora rescanned her notes and stared at the boy again. Aerin met her gaze, and emerald met chartreuse, locking together for a long moment.

"Of course," Aerin muttered, slapping her fist to her palm. "Of course that's it!"

Flora turned to the rest of them, getting up from her seat and facing her audience. "Of course. I don't know why I didn't see it earlier. It's so obvious. Why would a supposed attacker specifically lash out using slashing instead of stabbing blows? We all know that stabbing, however plain and unremarkable, causes greater physical damage than flashy slashing blows. So why would they use such attacks, when instead of just drawing blood, they could have caused severe internal injury or an immediate fatality?"

They blinked blankly at her. Helia scrutinised his wife and and expression of revelation dawned on his face. "Ah."

"That's just it," Aerin spoke up. "They only wanted the blood."

"And with blood there is essence," Flora finished. "With essence, you can initiate an essence _spell_."

"An essence spell can be initiated like any normal spell but requires a lot of concentration, but to be effected over long distances and for extended periods of time, they need to be tied down, paired with an object," Tecna said, "which means that with this wasting spell, there will be a key, an object to tie the spell to."

"Destroy the key, destroy the spell," Bloom finished. "Basic magical theory."

"But where would we even start looking?" Layla asked

"We could break the key remotely," Stella suggested. Riven snorted.

"Look at him," the man said, "Look at him and honestly tell me we have enough time to remotely break the connection with a brute-force crack mechanism-"

"Shut up Riven, we'll find a way. We're Believix fairies, for Dragon's sake-"

"That still doesn't change the fact that essence spells are strongest when tied to a key, and nearly impossible to break when they are," Helia said.

"Unless it's not tied down," Tecna tried, a note of vague hope in her voice.  
>Saladin snorted, a strangely undignified action in the old man. "The spell, judging by this young man's account, has been in effect for at least one week. Maintained without a key, and essence spell would have killed the caster by now. They not only take concentration but sap energy. It's keyed, and that is an indisputable fact."<p>

Four medimages nudged the double doors open, dragging three limp, dazed figures into the infirmary. At first, the bodies of the medimages shielded the faces of the boys how had been dragged in. Their soft mutters increased as they deposited the boys on three infirmary beds opposite Cameron's. Despite himself, he began to feel the vague and unfamiliar sting of unease. With a slow, clumsy sweep of his arm, he fumbled blindly for his glasses on the sideboard before locating them and shoving them onto his nose. When he saw their faces, he flinched.

"Cameron?" Aerin asked, her voice concerned but still even and controlled. Strong. "What's wrong?"

He sank into the pillows, trying to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible. Which was seriously out of character for him, so much that even he realised, in his half-delirious state, that it was the case. Aerin's gaze flicked across the room, and she put two and two together.

Before anyone could react, Aerin had launched herself across the room, flying at the nearest available casualty whilst screaming obscenities at them, accusing them, _blaming_ them. Snarling, she drew her fist back and back-handed the boy so hard his head snapped to the side. The medimages leapt out of range of her flying hands and feet while Helia and Flora immediately launched themselves into a tactical manoeuvre that existed in total opposition of the application of reason. Helia took a firm grip on her arms while Flora dragged the inert body of the Specialist out from underneath her.

"They've been subliminally programmed!" Riven roared. "They have no free will!"

Aerin struggled, still shouting things, and the other two of Cameron's attackers staggered off their beds, stumbling towards her. Riven and Timmy apprehended them swiftly while Layla and Bloom dragged the other boy out of harm's way. When Aerin wouldn't desist, Flora marched up to her.

She lifted her hand and slapped Aerin so hard she saw stars.

Aerin gasped as her head snapped to the side. The whole side of her face burned white hot, and Flora stared at her, hands on hips and looking supremely disapproving.

"Just who do you think you are?" Flora snapped. "That was childish, reckless and completely pointless. If you're unable to control yourself like a small child cannot, then you _will_ be excluded from this investigation until you can behave like an adult. Is that clear?"

She tore herself out of Helia's grip and drew herself up to full height, staring the older woman in the eyes. Their eyes were level with one another; Flora's eyes flashed at the blaze of anger in Aerin's orbs. Tecna looked on helplessly, watching the other woman discipline her firstborn. Aerin's stare was full of anger, and struck her just as surely as an arrow to the heart. Tecna flinched. Her youngest was near to dying, and her oldest hated her for it. How could she have let this happen? Aerin held Tecna's gaze, features schooled into cold and bland expressionlessness.

She walked out without a word.

When she was safely outside, she ran, tearing down the corridor and sprinting into the elevator, slamming the up button with more force than was necessary. With a wild and wordless cry, she lashed out blindly; her fist rammed into the mirror on the wall and it shattered with a sickening crack.

"Ah," she hissed, cradling her hand as her vision blurred. "_Ow_."

That wasn't one of her best ideas, she thought to herself, sliding down to sink to the ground.

"Damn it!" she cursed, swiping at her eyes with her good hand. Damn it, damn it, damn it three times over and thrice accursed again. Everything was going down the drain and there was not one bloody thing she could do about it, and it _hurt_. Her baby brother, oh, fuck she didn't want to think it but she did and she couldn't avoid it, her baby brother, the one she'd sworn to protect, to always watch over, was so close to dying, and she couldn't do one stupid thing. Nothing. _She_ was nothing. That made her feel so guilty, bad, and wrong and so, _so_ fucked up. How could she have let this happen? How could anyone have let this happen? She needed to get out of there. She felt trapped, and the walls seemed to crawl in on her as she

Princess Aerin of Zenith drew her legs up the her chest, curled into a little ball in the corner of the elevator and cried.

She was still crying when the elevator door slid open with a ding and a pneumatic hiss. _Damn_. Of all the bad timing...

"'Rin?"

_Oh, great_. Just freaking great.

"Go away, Caspian," she snapped, though it came out as more of a sniffle. "This is _not_ a good time."

Caspian plunked himself down next to her, avoiding the shards of broken glass on the floor. "I kinda figured that."

"What do you want?" she spat, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand before she oh-so-conveniently realised that she'd used her bad hand. _Ouch_.

"Shit," she swore. Her knuckles were all torn up, and her whole hand ached. Deep scratches radiated from each of her skinned knuckles and the blood dripped freely onto her cropped jeans. It hurt.

"Aerin," Caspian said, resting his hand on her shoulder. She flinched away from his touch and scooted along the wall, intent on putting some distance between them. Of all the times... Aerin was tough, but not _that _tough. She couldn't handle that stupidly persistent, perpetually sunny and oblivious prince of Andros trying to cheer her up.

"Oh," he said. "What happened?"

"None of your freaking business," she snapped. Caspian jerked, and she felt his stare.

Aerin then made the fatal mistake of looking up and into his softly imploring melted-chocolate eyes.

She cursed again and told him everything. She didn't even realise when he scooted closer and carefully slid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to lean against him as she blurted her story.

"How could this have happened, and on my watch? And in Red Fountain? Why didn't they have a better watch? Why did it have to be my baby brother?" she howled. He buried his face in her hair and whispered meaningless, soothing words in her ear. Aerin finally dried her red and bloodshot eyes, curling her good hand into a fist as the boy guided her to her feet.

"Come on," he said. "Our stop."

"Where?" she asked, her tone scratchy but her manner businesslike.

"His squad-mates. We can try looking for clues in his stuff," he said. She nodded briskly, ignoring the looks of the freshies lingering in the door corridors as she left a blood trail down the length of the hall.

* * *

><p>"There's nothing here," Hotaru said, dusting off his long-fingered hands and staring at his squad-mates. Ambrose sighed deeply, his eyes shadowed. He'd been...<em>affected<em>. Hotaru didn't know any other words that would have fit the category appropriately. It was like the blonde had lost a vital part of his emotional and spiritual anatomy. He looked awkward, bereft, unbalanced; like he woke up and suddenly found himself missing a limb and had on the spot resigned himself to functioning without it. Kazul, too, looked uncomfortable and uncertain- he was used to Cameron's constant direction and activity, and now that there was none, he felt out of place.

"Nothing?" Caspian asked. Hotaru shook his head. "Alright. So there's nothing there that can lead us back."

"They cleaned up the site of the attack too," Ambrose sighed, sitting down heavily on Cameron's bed. "They did a real good job of tying up their loose ends."

Aerin sat down next to him and patted his shoulder with her bad hand, before sighing and wrapping her arms around the younger boy. "You tried. I guess we just have to owe it to Cameron's overblown sense of honour-"

Ambrose opened his mouth, but Aerin shot him a look. "If it's anyone's fault, don't go around saying it's yours. Whoever did this has the sole blame and I _know_ you both had each other's backs."

She'd calmed down some from her meltdown in the elevator, but Caspian could still see the flash of determination in her eyes. Hotaru sat down next to the girl and rested his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes.

"So now what?" Kazul asked, still seeming lost. "What can we do? The one time we have an opportunity to save an innocent life and we can't do diddly-squat."

"That's not true," Aerin spat, bolting upright, the spark in her eyes slowly kindling back into the heat of her raw flame. "I won't accept it. And neither will any of you. If we can do anything, we owe it to Cameron."

"Where do we start?" Hotaru rephrased. For a moment, his impassivity cracked to reveal a sliver of insight nto his true emotions. He felt just as lost Kazul and maybe even more bereft than Ambrose. "But you're right. We owe it to him."

Ambrose pulled down his sleeve to show them a tiny scar on the inside of his arm. "Brothers in all but blood."

"We don't leave brothers behind," Kazul said, his voice clear and strong as he showed them his own scar. "Not with out blood pact."

"Not now, not ever," Hotaru finished. His own scar was a faint silver line across pale flesh.

Everything snapped into place again, and their universe, that seemed to be spinning out into space on a fatal collision course with the rest of the world, realigned.

Aerin smiled thinly. She tugged Caspian to his feet and pushed the door open. "First order of business- Alfea's library and the girls."

They marched out of the room so briskly that Aerin had to trot to keep up with their longer strides. A hop, skip and a levabike ride later, they found themselves tearing through the corridors and tumbling into the library with a crash. With a quick glance down the aisles, the boys fanned out, scanning for potentially useful titles. Aerin raced down the corridors, up into the dorm block, bursting in on the other girls' study session.

"Aerin?" Cass gaped, startled. Tor's eyebrows shot into her hairline.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Raze asked carelessly. Jake elbowed her, hard, and the taller girl yelped. "Ow!"

"Don't you know?" Jake hissed, trying to be discreet but not quite managing. Raze shook her head. "I'll fill you in later."

"What's the best way to remotely crack a keyed essence spell in within twenty-four hours without killing anybody?"

"What?" Phoenix asked, poking her damp head out of her dorm room.

"Keyed essence spell," Aeirn repeated.

"Voodoo?"

"Argh," she grunted, "Meet me in the library in five."

* * *

><p>"This is pointless!" Hotaru exploded, slamming his book shut and thumping his head against the cover.<p>

"Ugh," Ambrose grunted, resting his head on his arms. "I'm tired."

"Stumped here," Cass said, pushing away from the table.

"None of us have ideas either," Caspian said, a helpless expression on his face as he gestured toward Tor, Raze and Jake. Phoenix sat slouched, her arms crossed. Aerin fought back the rising tide of despair, flooding through her mind like brackish water. She wasn't thinking clearly. She couldn't think clearly. The rational part of her mind told her that this wasn't her responsibility, her job, her rightful place and role in the grand scheme of things; she had to find a way, anyway.

"If you would listen," Phoenix ground out, not sounding particularly, sweet or patient as was her usual tone of voice, "then I'd tell you how to get rid of this wasting spell."

Aerin snorted. "Right. We've been sitting here for three hours, poring over books and wracking our brains, yet none of us can come up with any ideas on how to remotely crack an essence spell apart from the energy-draining brute force method with a potentially dangerous backlash. And you've been sitting there, doing absolutely bloody nothing 'cept looking at your Brazilian voodoo manual whilst inspecting your nails. It'd better be damn good, Phoenix Altamirano, or I will rip your innards out through your nostrils and strangle you with them!"

Phoenix was unfazed, and a casual glance at her nails only served to further infuriate Aerin.

"Spit it out already!" she barked, and Phoenix looked at her wide, solemn eyes.

"It's just like voodoo. An essence spell has a key which is used as a substitute for the real thing, so whatever action you perform on the key, symbolic or literal or not, will manifest on the real thing," she said. "So when you can't get at the key physically, what do you do? You get through to it using a similar method- a construct. So once you find the key in your construct world, you can deactivate it like you would be able to in real life, all without leaving the place you cast the construct spell from."

"But wouldn't it be even harder to find the key in a construct world? I mean-" Tor interjected.

"But construct worlds are nearly just the real thing, and especially if you concentrate your intentions, you can limit your construct. Limited world, faster crack."

"You need a powerful magical artefact to anchor a construct spell," Caspian put forward, frowning.

"Exactly," Phoenix said, a sly smile crossing her cat-like features. "That's where the _eras taelis ferae_ comes in."

"The what?"

Tor grinned dangerously and leaned forward. Hotaru, Kazul and Ambrose, puzzled, leaned forward to in a hushed voice, she asked them one question.

"Can you keep a secret?"

* * *

><p>Hello, hello all, welcome to Winter de Grey's Cirque de Magnifique~! I guess you guys all know by now because of Jehan's very embarrassing and totally tactless divulging of certain confidential facts, but I guess I can't do much about it except for hitting him over the head repeatedly, which I've done. So, onward.<p>

Nickname: Win, Winnie. Don't ever call me that if you want to walk away with your eyeballs still in their sockets. So watch yourself.

Favourite Food: FOOD I LOVE FOOD ANY FOOD ALL FOOD GIMME FOOD. [Hi, this is Kaien. What Winter actually means is that he's only omnivorous under duress and would much rather never eat vegetables again. On the actual subject of inquiry, his favourites include meatlovers or bologna pizza, steak or any kind, Nuremburg sausages, roasted vegetable couscous - ha, what a hypocrite...- so on and so forth, but really, anything edible appeals to him.]

Favourite Colour: I have this thing for red. I dunno I just think it's the best.

Favourite Hobby: Getting things on the cheap and selling them again. Aside from that, I guess I don't really have many serious hobbies or interests. Never had time for them as a kid.

Favourite Pet: Pets. They cost money, they eat the food you could have used such money to buy, their vet bills are atrocious and they shit all over the damn place. So don't even talk to me about pets.

Best Friends: Kai-kai, Razzy and Princess Alarezia/Azerilia/Arelizia/Alezeria/Something-like-that/Raze of Solaria.

Favourite Movies: Out of all the movies I've ever seen, my top three are probably Die Hard (the first movie), Terminator II and Cyrano de Bergerac. Don't look at me so. Cyrano was epic. He could ass-kick and spout poetry at the same time, all without keeling over from the weight of that oversized nose of his. Cool guy. Cool, cool, guy.

Loves: Food, sleep, large and comfortable houses, being given things for free, my family.

Hates: Being abandoned, people who abandon others, people who break promises.

Favourite Music: Anything loud and with a really good guitar. System Divide, Human Error, Dragonforce, a bit of UnSun and Halestorm here and there. And Osamuraisan and Maurry are pretty cool, even if Phoenix's music isn't entirely to my tastes.

Favourite Shoes: ...No response I can muster will leave me with my dignity intact. No thank you.

Favourite Subject: Are you kidding me?

Favourite Attack: That turret gun come rocket launcher, you say...

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So sorry for the long wait ^^;; I had this chapter all planned out and then I got the writers' block again... Next chapter may or may not be as long, I'm still ironing out the details in that.**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: SYOC ANGELIX**

**To any readers who have submitted in SYOC: ANGELIX, the writer has asked me to put out a notice that she will be working on it- Her computer is jacked up and there hasn't been another alternative for her to work on. So never fear, it's not discontinued, just temporarily out of commission due to technical difficulties.**

**THANK YOU GUYS~! Please press the review button, it's lonely... especially with 10 chapters, 63428** **words and only 5 reviews to date T^T**


	11. Chapter 11

**11: The Midnight War of Wonderland**

Aerin glanced at her watch before doing another 360 scan. It seemed like everyone was in position, located in the common area of the girls' dorm. The boys, Caspian, Ambrose, Kazul and Hotaru, were paired up with a fairy each; their carriers were in place and prepared to teleport them alongside to their target destination.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go!"

"Time this exactly. Zero margin for error, remember?"

Jake smiled dryly as Ambrose shifted, swallowing thickly. "Don't worry, little brother. I'll never let you go."

One by one, six swirling crystal blue portals opened up in the ground.

"On my signal," Tor said. "Three..."

Cass hooked her arms under Caspian's, adjusting minutely so her grip was secure.

"Two..."

Hotaru gulped as Raze's hold in his arms tightened. They both took a step closer to the portal.

"One..."

They braced themselves.

"GO!"

They threw themselves through and into the void.

Air screamed past them as they free fell, tumbling through the air.

"Align! Align vertical!" Aerin shouted past the rush of air, activating her Winx. She tucked her wings tight, feeling her body slicing through the air as their velocity brought them nearer to the critical entry point. With a mental twist, her vision caught the flicker of the magical barrier on Red Fountain. They had three seconds after breaking the barrier to pull out of their free-fall, otherwise they'd be messy splats on the landscaped gardens.

"Barrier in three!" she yelled. Tor readied herself as Kazul held back a scream. Phoenix's grip on him tightened and he bit back a yelp of pain.

Any moment now... She crashed through feet first, feeling the barest resistance as her body slid into the protected airspace under the barrier dome. She had to admit, Aerin did come up with the best ideas. Teleporting eight hundred metres in the air above the Red Fountain barrier dome and executing what was basically the fairy equivalent of a HALO jump- that was just pure inspiration, and the fact that they'd be travelling too fast for the airspace monitors to register them as anything but a glitch was bloody genius. Her wings snapped out as she hissed in pain, feeling the taut muscles in her back and wings screaming with the exertion. Their velocity decreased, and the girls made a hard landing as their cargo stumbled, regaining their balance as they pitched forward from the force of their movement.

"Oh my God," Ambrose gasped, turning on Jake. "You said you were qualified to do that. You said! You _so weren't_ qualified!"

Jake shrugged nonchalantly, her Winx flickering off and her disguised form coming back into view.

"We can't wait any longer. It's already three a.m., and we need the construct running before anyone has a chance to stop us," Aerin said, voice hushed. "Tor, Jake- have you got your distraction down?"

"Yeah," the taller girl said, putting the finishing touches on her glamour and pulling a hood over her figure. "Down pat."

"Lots of pyrotechnics right?" Jake said, grinning. Her glamour, too, was in place, and she fastened her cape.

"Lots and lots of pyrotechnics: flame wheels, lots of pointless, flashy shielding, a battle aura, tentacles, laser beams, explosions, fog, smoke, anything," her younger brother affirmed. "The bigger the bang, the better I'll pay you."

"In food?" Her eyes lit up.

"In food," he said.

"Cass, Raze, are you down on how to disable the security system?" Aerin asked. The two nodded, zipping up black jackets and settling the equipment in Cass's backpack. Phoenix, attired in a similar get-up, unzipped her back, patted the _eras taelis_ _ferae_ and fished out four long, thin vials. She shook them, and they glowed vaguely with a slight fizzling noise before she slid them back into her backpack with the most delicate of touches.

"Phoenix, you have the spell, and Caspian, ready to second her?"

Caspian nodded as Phoenix smoothed down the front of her long-sleeved catsuit. It was a ridiculous garment, a cosplay item, but it fit her figure well and she thought she looked cool in it, so Aerin let her be. After all, they couldn't have an angry and thus distracted Phoenix Altamirano maintaining their construct lest it collapse on them completely and leave them with no way out.

"Hotaru, the coffee," she finished, holding her hand out. Hotaru whipped out a tray of the hot beverages, handing her a shot. She flicked the lid off the paper cup and chugged the shot in one go, feeling it burn as it seared down the back of her throat. Instantaneously, she felt more awake, alert; the straight shot was from Celia's, where the baristas spiked every espresso with a five gram dose of fairy dust. Ambrose shivered, not used to the buzz.  
>"I never drink coffee this strong..." he mumbled. Hotaru shushed him, and returned his attention to handing out the shots. One by one, they all perked up, held in the temporary thrall of a magically enhanced caffeine hit.<p>

"Everyone is absolutely clear on the plan?" Aerin asked one more time. She was met with a chorus of nods and whispered agreements. Aerin stuck out her fist, and the others stacked their fists on top of one another before they tapped them twice and withdrew. A cheesy gesture, but she felt like they all needed it. Encouragement. They were, after all, breaking into Red Fountain, launching a fake monster attack, disabling a state of the art security system and launching a construct spell. If she weren't the one trying to get it all done in time for the next morning's classes, she would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Alright. Let's go."

The figures scattered into the darkness, masked by the cover of night.

* * *

><p>Jake and Tor slid through the shadows, pressing themselves against the wall of the sheltered gallery surrounding the garden at the school's heart.<p>

"Cameras," Jake said softly, pointing out the devices. "There, there, there, and across there in the arc line. The line of sight trails down in on the moonlight path in the centre, through the bank on the left side and from above on the right."

"How to approach...? Subtle or obvious?"

Jake suppressed a quiet snort. "Obvious."

Tor smirked, her face half hidden by her hood. "Obvious it is, then."

With that, she pulled her hood up further around her face and strode confidently into the line of sight. She imagined that the black cape around her must be swishing ominously as she adjusted her gait to steady, swaying plod. The cameras swivelled, their tiny indicator lights blinking with activity, showing that the smart sensors had been activated and were following the path of movement. Jake grinned followed her, keeping her head down and moving with a slow swish of the full cape. The cameras whirred, the lights blinking with an added urgency. Around her, she could already detect the muffled movement and almost soundless steps of security personnel and senior Specialists levelling weapons and fanning out around them. They chose the shadows and concealment of the galleries. Good choice, especially with an unknown threat like them. Despite the concealment and security of their positions, they would have to channel through the openings in the galleries to attack, and not all paths were open. The gardens were densely packed, not designed for a charge to pass through easily. They could easily have picked them off as they poured onto the paths in twos and threes, as well as the fact that being so tightly packed would have caused accidents with pole-arms and accidentally throwing off each others' attacks. It would have been easy, had they harboured truly malicious intents. Neither made a movement to attack.

She met Tor in the centre of the garden, standing back to back with the taller girl.

"Ready for this?"

"Ready for the great expose?" Jake asked. "I think not. Never will be."

"Nah. Don't worry. You're a washboard. It won't be as embarrassing as me with, you know, my, uh, womanhood being in full bloom."

"True..."

"Well, we decided already. There's no reversing it now, not with all the work we put in to it, so truly no time to change the glamour."

A Specialist stepped onto the main path, pointing a halberd at them. Alongside its wickedly sharp phantoblade, the slender muzzle of an energy cannon gleaming softly under the light of the moon.

"State your name and business," he barked, the slightest quiver in his voice. Tor allowed a smirk to crawl its way across her face, creating an eerie slash in her face. She cleared her throat and chuckled lowly, the sounds coming from her throat twisted with distortion.

"Name and business," he barked again, "Stand down, or you _will_ be apprehended by force."

The defenders bristled, brandishing their weapons, and taking up their positions.

Jake shrugged, and threw her cape off. Like the wings of a great bird, the black fabric rose into the air and burst into an inferno as Tor's cloak consumed itself in flashing silver aura. Both girls rose into the air as the defenders of the school rushed into view in the garden.

Jake let out her best maniacal laugh as Tor's cackle rang through the garden.

"That's just the way I like it," she howled, her voice taking on a commanding triple timbre as the collective jaws of the defending force dropped. Of course they would, Jake thought to herself. She had to physically restrain herself from slapping her forehead.

Tor's whole body was black and shone wetly as if she'd been dipped in liquid vinyl sans clothes (okay, maybe that wasn't entirely true- all their 'sacred areas' were sufficiently covered. Maybe a vinyl seamless catsuit was a more apt description); shining reflections caressed her considerable curves as the male eyes stuck and slid down around her ample bosoms and generous ass. Her silver battle aura glinted off her flat stomach and her long legs as her hair, equally black but softer-looking and matte, lashed around her head as if buoyed by some unseen force. Her eyes were bright silver pits with no whites, irises or pupils, her mouth was a slash of the same colour. Jake's appearance was similar, except for the fact that she had barely had any curves; her eyes were pools of red light and significantly more menacing that her partner's. Her hair floated around her face, limned in red light-streaks.

She grinned and threw out her arms.

_Let the pyrotechnics begin_.

* * *

><p>Cass signalled for Raze to cross the corridor to meet her, carefully avoiding the line of surveillance cameras as much as possible- a largely unnecessary notion, since any surveillance was either going to see them anyway or be entirely too focused on the distraction that Tor and Jake were holding up.<p>

"This is a waste of energy," Raze said flatly, swooping around a corner with her belt and backpack clanking. Cass rolled her eyes and trotted after the taller girl.

"Hey, could we at least keep up appearances? It would make me feel a lot better, personally," Cass said, prodding Raze in the shoulder. Raze snorted.

"Right," Raze deadpanned. "But it is a waste of energy."

"True that, sister," Cass conceded. "We there yet?"

"Next corridor, second door down."

"Awesome. I can't wait to unpack this equipment," Cass grunted. "So heavy."

"You're telling me?" Raze snorted, shifting the equipment on her back. "I'm carrying the clunking great force hack engine and all you have are the drives with the software in."

"Don't forget the cables."

"Inconsequential!" Raze muttered, throwing her hands into the air. "Stop spouting-"

As they rounded the corridor, they were met with a squadron of heavily armed Specialists.

"-rubbish," Raze finished, stopping and assessing the squad. There was no-one they knew- oh, wait. In the back left, the second ring of defences around the access point, were Winter and Raziel.

"Hoods down," she hissed. "Prepare to fight through."

"No flipping shit, Sherlock," Cass whispered back fiercely. Raze growled slightly and assumed a totally different tone of voice, and accent even.

"Well, my pretties," she called in an almost jovial manner, "As cliché as it is, I'm legally obliged to offer you the easy option and the hard option. All we want is to have a nice front-row view of the pyrotechnics going on in the central courtyard, from your surveillance room. You let us through all friendly-like, none of this nasty swords and cannons business, and we won't even have to offer you the hard way. I mean, the hard way _is _ the hard way and I mean it when I say it-" Raze paused, as if considering something when the assumed leader of the group resolutely shook his head- "I'd have thought you'd be a lot more concerned with the rather, how should I put this, _indelicate_ affair going on in the central garden, but I suppose not. Shame. I would've though you'd have a lot more sense than this, futilely defending something that won't even stop the sonic sounders in the freshman and sophomore dorm blocks going off, nor the mines in the Veritas Chamber and the dragon stables-"

Cass stifled the giggles wrestling with each other in her throat. By then, most of the Specialists looked as if the blood had been sucked out of their heads They hesitated, weighing up the situation-

"Retreat!" the group's leader called, making several hand motions to indicate some sort of strategic manoeuvre. Wow. Raze's skills really were top notch. She didn't even need to power up for any sort of fight, let alone the rock-blasting, round-housing melee she'd been expecting. Raze abruptly apprehended Raziel, hooking one arm around his waist with both his arms pinned as she clapped her hand over his mouth. A muffled gasp of surprise caught Winter's attention, and he turned, preparing to draw his weapon. Cass strode forward and grabbed both his wrists, shaking her hood down.

"Hey," she whispered, "It's us, Cass and Raze. No need to go ape on our asses."

"What in the-" Winter proceeded to use words that were not intended for use in the company of ladies of gentle breeding.

"Don't," Raze hissed, releasing Raziel. "No time to explain. You're now our hostages so you either come quiet or I'll ride you both ragged, got it?"

Winter desisted in the middle of 'thrice accursed' with his jaw hanging slack.

"Excuse me?" Raziel squeaked, colouring vaguely in the dim light.

"Now that we have your attention," Raze grinned. "No, I won't, not really. But we do need to get into the surveillance room. It's really important, no, we're not imposters and hell, don't let anybody know, okay? That whole thing with the sonic sounders and the mines was a bluff- there's nothing for them to find so they'll go absolutely ballistic trying to find it. We're in enough trouble as is but it's absolutely essential-"

"What exactly are you doing?" Raziel spluttered, a scarlet blush still curling up his neck and across his pale cheeks.

"We're trying to remotely crack an essence spell on Aerin's brother through a construct," Cass said flatly. His jaw dropped. Raziel shook himself and whacked his ear a couple of times to make sure he heard right.

"Yeah. You heard right."

He blinked, then turned and kicked the door down.

They all blinked and rubbed their eyes.

"Was...Raziel...actually _BAMF_?"

"We'll keep'em distracted. Go on," Raziel said, grabbing Winter's wrist and dragging him off as he sputtered, still staring at Raze. Cass grinned and waved, kicking the half-broken door away and striding into the surveillance room. Banks of monitors stretched all around the room, stacked to the ceiling like an open-topped semisphere, displaying every monitored area of the school on different screens. In the centre of the array, several screens had blacked out while the others showed the battle going on in the central courtyard. Jake blasted a fireball into the garden and watched as a tree caught alight, using the energy from the fire to conjure a flame wheel. Tor's blade attack was not as tightly controlled and hard-edged as it usually was; her interests were only in temporarily disabling the defensive forces. A silver light streak formed in her hands and she hurled it into the crowd of security forces, detonating with a bang. Several bodies flew off their feet, slamming into assorted bushes, trees and columns as Tor's battle aura grew tentacles and began whipping about madly. Beneath the monitors were control panels blinking lights and bristling with switches and dials, most beeping insistently and transmitting essential data streams on tiny floating hologram displays.

"Just look for the one labelled central interface," Cass directed, running her fingers lightly over the panel, searching for the correct interface point. "Once you find it, it should be a button but once you pop the cover and stick the plug in we'll be able to use the force hack engine through there."

Raze unpacked the hardware from her backpack and fished the cables out of Cass'. She plugged them into the various nodules on the large, metallic console as Cass found the appropriate interface and savagely smashed the plastic covering open with a concentrated blast from her palm.

"Cable," she called. An appropriate conduit was placed in her awaiting hand as Raze slotted the software chips into their large, heavy, last-decade and technically illegal force hacker. She doubted she wanted to ask where Aerin had 'acquired' it from.

Cass plugged in the final cable while Raze fired the machine up. She grinned, as all the lights on the machine slowly flicked to blue. Popping open the plastic cover on the red hack button, Cass signalled her. Just as Tor and Jake let off a particularly spectacular explosion, Raze hit the button and all the screens went blank.

* * *

><p>Helia bolted upright in his bed, unable to shake the distinct feeling that something was intensely wrong with the world.<p>

Sure, he'd assumed the position of Headmaster several years back, but instincts gained from the civil war hadn't faded with time. Beside him, his beautiful wife stirred and rubbed her eyes. It was a most uncommon occurrence- usually she would reside on Linphea while he maintained residence at the heroes' school, but she'd portalled in looking all delicious and tousled in one of her now-customary field gear. One thing lead to another which lead to a nice tumble in the sheets, which he couldn't object to.

"Wuss goin' on?"

"I dunno. Just this feeling." He shivered as the overly-cooled bedroom air hit his bare torso. There was something seriously wrong with not only the universe, but the state of the climatic control in Red Fountain.

Flora grunted and emitted a most indelicate stream of profanities. "So cold in here," she muttered half-mutinously-half-sleepily, "Go fix the climate control."

"Mmph," he muttered, flopping backwards and declining to comply. Of course, it was much warmer actually _in_ bed, with his wonderful wife and her peerlessly delicious body. As soon as his head hit the pillow, though, his hologram com buzzed and emitted a most insistent beeping, his emergency ringtone. Which had him immediately alert- he was so used to Taz's irritating and sing-songy 'Dad, pick up the phone, Dad, pick up the phone, Dad, I mean, really, pick up the phone' that the rapid-fire beeps were a shock to his system.

He flicked the com open immediately and was met with Riven's face, which bore a most uncharacteristic expression of perturbation. Perturbation would have been too gentle a term. Riven looked absolutely thunderous.

"Something going down in the central garden," he immediately barked. "Get your ass here right now."

"What? What's going on?" Flora mumbled, levering into an upright position as she rubbed her eyes.

"Unidentified monsters, and someone's cut our feeds," he growled. In the background, there was a significant disturbance and the whole screen went white for a second. Riven swore a blue streak and the familiar _shik_ of his phantoblade sliding out was barely audible over the roar of explosions.

"Get down here!" he yelled, before abruptly closing the com with a fierce battle cry.

Helia swore and leapt out of bed.

* * *

><p>"C'mon, c'mon, just around this corner," Caspian hissed, tugging both Phoenix and Aerin along as the shorter boys trotted to keep up. Phoenix's shiny black leather boots tapped conspicuously on the floor and Aerin tried to suppress the growing sense of frustration threatening to bubble over her carefully constructed wall of determined resolve. She couldn't let her emotions cloud her judgement, especially if she was going to enter a construct world at any minute. The infirmary doors were protected by an coded electronic access pad, with a twelve digit code changed on a weekly basis. Aerin jammed one copper-glowing hand into the interface and watched as it fizzled and died in a burst of sparks. The doors slid open smoothly. Cameron's squad-mates tore across the empty space and rushed to crowd around their fallen comrade's bed. He looked even more pinched and drawn than ever, and the traceries of blue veins were visible through his sickly pale skin.<p>

"Move back!" Phoenix ordered, pulling the _eras taelis ferae_ out of her backpack. She blew the residual dust off the cover and fished out the vials she had produced before. Shaking each one, she tossed them to each of the boys and Aerin as she pulled across a chair to rest the codex on.

"Where is everyone?" Caspian asked, doing a 360 scan of the infirmary.

"Tor and Jake's distraction didn't just involve pyrotechnics. We also hacked the private communications channel of the Royal families of Eraklyon, Andros, Solaria, Sparx and Zenith. An urgent national security measure," Aerin said flatly, pushing the boys into position around the bed while she shoved Caspian into place behind Aerin, hands on her shoulders and ready to bolster her energy if it came to that.

"Ready?" Phoenix asked. They only responses given where silent nods of assent. Kazul gulped and Ambrose rolled his shoulders while Hotaru looked to Aerin for a signal of some sort. Caspian's gaze flicked to the caramel-haired girl, and he frowned slightly.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" he asked, a tinge of worry creeping into his tone.

Aerin shook her head firmly. "Constructs are intrinsically not stable, and all of us, with the blood pact and direct relationship, have a better chance of making out safely that someone with nothing to tether them to the object of their intentions. And we need you to back up Phoenix in case she burns herself out."

He pursed his lips and looked away from her intense, chartreuse-green stare.

"Positions?" Phoenix called again, checking the reference sheet in her pocket quickly. "I can only hold the construct for about an hour, maybe an hour fifteen, before I burn both of us up, but time will run differently in the construct so get in and out as quick as you can. Don't trust anything you see or hear, don't eat or drink anything, and rely on your instincts."

"What are the vials for?" Ambrose interrupted.

"Oh, those," Phoenix replied, tone all business. "Only use those if you're in absolutely dire straits. Throw them, crack them open, make sure it's exposed to air. Emergency only, I stress. Now let's get going!"

She cracked her knuckles, wiggled her fingers and spread her arms out in the traditional caster's position, one any magic-born child knew from the cradle: arms out in front of her, directed slightly up and outward, hands spread with palms flat downward, feet planted shoulder-width apart.

She closed her eyes briefly and began to chant the incantation. Her hands glowed with a soft, iridescent black aura as the book began to hum with power. Aerin's whole body tingled with the sensations of the incantation. Slowly, the same black glow began to build up around their bodies, and the tingling sensation became more intense. Ambrose shivered and Phoenix's chant was relentless, if considerably soft in volume.

Aerin shivered as the air around the hospital bed, and consequently, their bodies, began to warp and shimmer. Outside, there was a particularly loud explosion, glaring orange through the infirmary windows. Several small black figures were thrown into the air only to plummet, opposed by the forces of gravity. A breath of wind stirred around their feet as Phoenix's chanting increased in intensity and volume. The breath of wind became a breeze, swirling around them in a tight perfect circle. The tingling sensation on their bodies became an unpleasant buzz. Phoenix's hair lashed around her face as the faint hum of power rapidly became an earth-shaking roar. Suddenly, if felt like the ground dropped out from under Aerin's feet, sending her spiralling into open air.

The construct had worked. They were in.

* * *

><p>Shade bolted upright as her bedside alarm blared and flashed red.<p>

"Shit!" she swore, scrabbling at her sheets and leaping out of bed to dash across to Frost's quarters. Hammering on the door, she yelled, "Frost, open up! Open up immediately!"

Frost swore profusely and yanked her door open. "What? What's going on?"

"Someone's messing with our essence spell!" Shade hissed urgently. Frost's expression of confusion quickly transformed into one of anger.

"What?" she growled. "Spark! Spark! Get up!"

"Whadda ya want now?"

"They're messing with our essence spell!" Frost snarled. "We're gonna show them who's boss!"

* * *

><p>Ambrose landed hard on all fours, rolling to one side as the dull <em>whump<em> of human bodies on stone sounded around him. Momentarily, he was unaware of anything except the feeling that his insides were operating in a vacuum and that his stomach was spiralling off in space in some alternate dimension. Groaning, he rolled again, pushing himself to his feet and staggering as the monochrome world spun. Whoa. Trippy, until he realised that he was boxed in on all sides by stone walls, with one solitary passageway on one of the walls. Okay, his vision wasn't funked up. Just the room itself. A warm hand came to rest on his arm, and he rubbed his still unfocused eyes as he tried to identify the owner of the hand currently in contact with his person. The hand tightened its grip and steadied him, to be joined by another on his other arm, pulling him to face a dark blur with a pale splotch at the top. Slowly, his eyes refocused and he realised the dark blur was Hotaru, looking at him with a concerned expression while mouthing words.

"What?" he asked, hearing a muffled and far-away voice echoing his words. Hotaru said something again, a little more urgently, and Ambrose shook his head like a wet-dog. With a pop, his hearing returned.

"- cravat," Hotaru said.

"What?"

"You deaf still?"

"No," Ambrose denied vehemently, "but you must've gotten a knock on the head. What have cravats got to do with anything?"

Hotaru poked at his throat; sure enough, there was a waterfall of amber silk cascading from his shirt-front, clasped with a gold cravat pin of unusual proportions. Hotaru had a similar arrangement, only his was in emerald moire with a mother of pearl pin.

"Why are we wearing cravats?"

"Why wouldn't we be, considering the rest of the ensemble? Everything from shirtwaist to waistcoat to swallow-tail and these pants! Oh, God, they're so tight," Hotaru said, with a militant expression upon his face. He'd unconsciously begun to pace, while Ambrose picked at his own gold brocade waistcoat, deplorably flashy claret velvet tailcoat and pinchy, tight hi-shine boots. Kazul, nearby, picked himself up off the floor and dusted off his seat of of his garish sea-foam green and lavender checked pants.

"Where's Rinnie?" Kazul asked, looking about the area in utter confusion.

"Right here, dimwit," she growled, emerging from the shadows. Kazul blinked once, twice, three times; he collapsed into a hysterical fit of laughter. Aerin wore a very low-necked ivory bustle gown trimmed with tiny raspberry ribbon-work roses and and gold gauze ribbon. The short sleeves were puffed and overlaid with the same point de gaze lace adorning the front of the skirt, while the bustled back cascaded into a two foot train underlaid with a gauze dust ruffle. Her stormy expression did not match well with the ribbon and roses twined into her pinned-up hair.

"You look ridiculous!" Kazul screeched, struggling not to choke. "That neckline! Oh, my God, the back of that dress! Hahaha!"

Aerin hit him with a large fan that Ambrose would've sworn wasn't in her hands a split second ago. Kazul yelped and Hotaru supressed a chuckle. Aerin grinned sadistically and gathered up her skirts with both hands.

"Come on, my laddybucks," she said. "We need to get out of this stone trap and find that key."

She disappeared into the gloom of the passageway, and Ambrose trotted after her. Kazul's complaints were soon quieted by Hotaru's harsh, whispered scoldings. More than once, he came close to tripping on Aerin's train, especially as he couldn't see squat; Hotaru bumped into him when pushed forward by Kazul's stumbling about. Aerin's sadistic mood soon wore thin and returned to her previous state of frustrated impatience. The stone corridor suddenly became a staircase, and Ambrose had to catch Aerin before she fell down them. After that, they proceeded with more caution. Kazul nattered away aimlessly and Hotaru continued to tug at his waistcoat and jacket, muttering about how absolutely deplorable they were.

"How in the hell did we end up like this?"

"Probably Phoenix's thoughts. The mental state of the caster will influence the construct world, so let's hope that she was concentrating," Aerin growled, presumably seizing her skirts with both hands and marching forward at an increased pace.

"Wait up," Ambrose called, lengthening his stride to keep up with the older girl. His pinching boots had rubbed his heels raw through the fabric of his socks, and it hurt. Kazul suddenly trailed off, as if his brain had run out of fluff to fuel his rantings with. As if taking some sort of cue, Hotaru too fell silent. The tap of his boots and his own breathing was suddenly too loud in his ears. Aerin's footsteps stopped abruptly and she swore, her tone sharp.

"Oh, hell," she spat. "This is a fucking dead end. How the hell do we get out of here?"

Hotaru flinched. A dead end in a stone trap like this one, buried who knew how many miles beneath the surface of whatever constructed landscape they were in, with no exit, no entrance, no air.

The silence that descended upon them was deafening, painful; Aerin placed her palm against the wall, feeling the cool and unyielding stone through the fine lace of her evening gloves. The grain of the rock was harsh and rough, but soft and crumbly under her fingers. Dust crept between the threads of lace to lodge under her fingernails and in the creases of her palm.

"'Rin?" Kazul ventured, tentative in the oppressive and stagnating quiet.

"Ssh. I'm thinking."

Another hand. More coolness, flowing into her skin and up her arms. Both palms, moving in tandem, running up and down the rock. More dust. More harsh rock. A snag in her lace gloves. Moving together, then apart, scanning over the rock and seeking for chinks, cracks, flaws and imperfections.

There. In the top left of the end wall, a smoother patch of hard rock, only about the size of her hand. Aerin tapped it, feeling it move under her fingers, and pressed. The stone slid backward with a click, and the stone wall slid sideways with a rumble and hiss.

The sudden burst of light into their stone confinement blinded them momentarily. Hotaru whimpered and Kazul flinched. Aerin stumbled forward, and he followed blindly. Ice cold arms clamped around his body, pulling him into a wild whirl. He suppressed a shriek and Aerin let out a yelp of surprise.

Oh, Dragon. His body recognised this position. Close position, ballroom. His hand was one someone's lower back, and an ice cold hand was in his. From his vantage point, all he could see was the top of a head of hair, a girl's, curled and pinned elaborately. A sudden flush of panic and claustrophobia closed up his throat; he tried to tug free of those icy hands. No use. The girl's grip on his shoulder clamped down painfully. He tugged more harshly, throwing all his strength in the opposite direction as she continued to spin him about in a waltz step perfectly in time with the other couples. She didn't budge an inch out of her perfectly arcing steps.

A whimper of panic wormed its way out of his throat. The girl looked up, and he inhaled sharply in horror.

She had no face.

* * *

><p>"What the fuck is going on!"<p>

Riven snarled and dodged another wildly flashing projectile hurled his way.

"All our surveillance is down!" he shouted again, slicing through a piece of tree trunk flying at his head. "We don't know where it went!"

"Still, what the hell is going on? How did they get in?" Helia threw out his laser strings and flung away a piece of column threatening to permanently decommission the both of them.

"We don't know diddly squat! We haven't been able to identify them, and they just started attacking randomly even though they're higher-order intelligences"- dodge, grunt, duck, swear- "they had no demands or requests or anything before they went ballistic!"

"Casualties?" He felt his stomach churning. He didn't even want to think about it- even more heartbreaking than those who had families to miss them were the special cases for whom there was no-one left.

"None," Riven growled, "as of yet- hey, Squad Twelve! _FORWARD AND FORM UP!_"

"What do you mean, none? We've just been attacked by two crazily powerful monsters with malicious intents and there are none? What about injuries? Maiming? Loss of limbs, eyes, the like?"

Riven shook his head no. Helia glanced at the two black figures once more, before turning to look at Riven again.

"But there's gonna be!" the other man yelled, appropriating a neutrino blaster from one of the boys and firing it off. The shot went wild. "Sonic sounders, in the freshie and sophomore blocks. Mines in the Veritas chamber, dragon stables-"

Helia's eyes widened in horror as the force of one of the blasts lashed his ponytail.

"Oh, Dragon, no..."

His laser strings lashed out violently, wrapping around the larger figure. He brought it down with a savage yank, feeling the fear running through his body like fingers of steel, piercing and stabbing through hot, yielding flesh. It landed hard with a rough grunt of pain and an immediate reaction in the other figure. It was if an instantaneous cease-fire had occurred: all the blasting and brandishing desisted immediately; Helia stepped forward as the rabble parted before him. Drawing the rarely-used rapier sheathed at his side, he stood over the fallen figure. His mouth tightened into a hard line as he levelled the blade at its throat.

Its silver eye pits closed and its mouth stretched into a small, gentle smile that seemed greatly incongruous with the rest of its abundantly female appearance.

"Start talking," he growled. The thing's black outline flickered, faded, changed; Tor folded herself into a cross-legged seat and smiled up at him exhaustedly.

"Hi, Dad."

* * *

><p>Phoenix whimpered. The construct was pulling energy out of her, fast, way too fast. It'd only been half and hour, thirty-five minutes at the very most, yet her reserves were giving way fast.<p>

"Caspian," she said, edging it out through gritted teeth, "I need back-up, now."

He shook himself out of a daze, black curls shivering with the movement.

"What? Already?"

"It's really taxing," she managed. "I dunno. I think-"

There was a strange sensation, at the edge of her magical range, biting into her powers and drawing them fast into the construct. It felt vaguely familiar; there was something she couldn't quite place about it... Caspian started toward her as she reached out to brush a tendril of her own magic along the foreign matter.

She gasped and stumbled. A violent shock of cold and darkness and electricity stung through her, sharp, bitter and _familiar_, oh Dragon was it familiar! Caspian caught her as she tripped backward, and his energy immediately flowed through her, topping up her control on the construct as she fought to regain her focus.

"No, no, no, no..." she whimpered. "Please, please, no..."

"What's wrong?" he asked, just as the door burst open and both Winter and Raziel stumbled into the infirmary.

"What's going on?" the blonde demanded, sheathing his sword and frowning.

Phoenix squeezed her eyes shut momentarily, feeling four different signatures flaring- the signature of the distress beacons- before responding in a hollow whisper. "The New Trix. They're in my construct. They're here."

* * *

><p>Aerin screamed bloody murder- or was it Kazul- and then he was being whirled around faster and faster and then he had no purchase on the floor. Ambrose' foot snagged in the faceless girl's skirt, and he pulled a halting half-step before flying, flailing and falling flat on his face. More accurately, it was falling flat on his face into the faceless spectre's dusky pink skirts, yanking free a whole edge's worth of pleated trim and ripping at least half her bustle drapes free with his flailing hands. She went down like a domino, and Ambrose lost all sense of direction as he went practically ass over teakettle, flying through the air.<p>

Okay, so expletives went leaking everywere. There was a 'dog's bollocks' and at more than a fair amount of 'holy mother of fuck', but you couldn't really blame them. They were flying through the air with absolutely no sense of anything-

The room spun wildly, irrationally, jerking up and down and tumbling around like the barrel of a washing machine, sending them flying up and down and crashing into the faceless dancers. The faceless dancers were as limp as ragdolls and offered barely any reaction as he slammed into them. Abruptly, the spin of the room took a sharp turn, sending him slamming into the wall with a sharp crack. A white bloom of pain opened up in the back of his head and in the middle of his back as he rammed into the corner of a table top, hard. The silk of the dancer's elaborate court costumes spun and flashed as rainbows of pin-wheeling colour. His vision went black as he got tangled in an indigo skirt; he yelled out and clawed wildly at it, ripping himself free. The whole room spun twice as quickly as before an abruptly stopped as the floor opened up and dumped them into the abyss.

Ass over teakettle again Ambrose was unable to repress his inherently feminine side and screamed like a little girl.

"_Holy shit, holy shit, holy flipping Dragon dung, what did I ever do, oh my Dragon, holy shit- I DON'T WANT TO DIE!_" Kazul yelled semi-incoherently, somehow flipping himself mid-air and grabbing onto Hotaru. Aerin floundered and tried to direct herself so that her skirt could function as an impromptu parachute; it didn't work and she screamed shrilly as the faceless dancers fell away; revealing a gaping chasm in the cracked, flawed, red-dust earth. Fissures spread like angry jagged mouths, shifting and growing relentlessly as the earth groaned. Ambrose flinched, Hotaru closed his eyes. Aerin faced the chasm steadily, her arms and legs spread wide to break her momentum. Angry tears streamed in ribbons from her eyes, ascending and coalescing into perfect spherical drops mid-air before being borne away by the force of the wind and her velocity.

He closed his eyes tight. Thunder cracked and boomed and the dark rain fell on them in stinging, icy sheets. Hotaru could barely even see the chasm any more, such was the force and ferocity of the storm around them. Kazul clutched at his arm, his grip painfully tight and his nails clawing into Hotaru's flesh. This was it. This was the end. Aerin shuddered, feeling the bite of the dark rain seeping into her reserves and eating away at her magic. Hands shaking, she fumbled for the vial Phoenix had given her and cracked it open. The liquid fizzed, gleamed iridescently, and was lost to the wind. Hotaru hissed as the remains of his glass vial left cuts across his palms and fingers; Kazul belatedly lobbed his at one of the faceless dancers, shattering on impact and engulfing the monster in a plume of green fire. Ambrose unstoppered his own and threw it into the air.

Again. Again. It was the same magical signature, one that had been burned into Aerin's mind- first the kappas, then the hunting troll, Tor and the Black Lagoon cafe, Cloud Tower and the dark rain of the day they'd faced the kappas. It had to be them, there was no one else; it had to be the-

Before she could finish the thought, a black cloud of smoke bloomed into existence beneath them, flying upwards and swallowing them up. Aerin instinctively lashed out, flailing uselessly at the elusive curls of smoke surface as Hotaru tried to escape the senseless darkness. Ambrose collapsed into a panting heap on the soft, matte black floor as the blackness solidified into a blank space; Kazul collapsed on top of him. Both were too numb to respond. The black space was massive but seemed barely large enough for the four of them; no avenue of escape presented itself, nor any form of lighting. The velvety blackness was choking, suffocating. Aerin gathered the final reserves of her magic, fisting her hands and sending out a flare. It spiralled away from sight, continuing infinitely and fading from sight until the final pinprick of light disappeared.

_{Please desist.}_

Hotaru grabbed Aerin's shoulder. The soft echoes of a disembodied voice rippled around them. Aerin bolted upright.

"Who are you?"

There was no response. Aerin swore eloquently. " First non-sequitur, then blank space and then implosion- Phoenix's control is slipping. We need to get out. _Now_."

_{To the contrary. Considering that not one but four external interferences exist on her construct, her control is most admirable. Also, considering that her and her backup's energy signatures aren't naturally compatible, your friend is doing a most commendable job.}_

Briefly, an image of Phoenix, backed by not Caspian but Winter, flashed in black of part of the black space. Caspian had collapsed over an armchair, looking spent, while Raziel kept watch at the door.

"What do you mean, four interferences?" Hotaru asked, waving his hands experimentally to see if there was any effect. The blackness hazed and wavered momentarily, revealing a smudge of colour. The blackness quickly covered over the smudge of colour and Hotaru snatched his hand back.

_{Please stop that. It is not helpful in the slightest.} _There was a brief pause, before another image flashed in the black. _{I believe they refer to themselves as the New Trix. Terribly unoriginal, if you ask me.}_

Aerin moved to spit, and then realised how awkward and rude that would appear.

_{The fourth interference is myself. I am not at liberty to discuss the exact details of what that entails, but you may take comfort in the knowledge that I do not intend to exacerbate the life-threatening nature of the situation.}_

"What does that even mean?" Ambrose muttered, rolling onto his back and scrubbing at his face with his hands.

_{Simply put, I wish to offer assistance. With the unstable nature of the construct due to the less than beneficial involvement of the New Trix, I propose to transport you directly to your objective.}_

"You can do that? How? Why? What do you possibly gain by helping us?" Aerin asked, her brows folding together in frustration.

_{I cannot reveal such information.}_

Aerin frowned. "Why?"

There was a strained silence, before the voice replied, _{I am unable to answer without disrupting the natural continuum of fate. Please do not ask any more questions. Your arrival at your target destination is imminent_._}_

"How do we know we can trust you?"

_{You don't.}_

* * *

><p>The courtyard was soft-edged and vague, white-light and cool against her skin. Dreamlike, as if in a trance, she stretched her hands out and stepped forward-the place shimmered and rippled like heat -haze. Everything was white, and soft, and reflective, and she wanted to sink into that whiteness senselessly, quietly, peacefully. Strange; she lifted one foot and placed it ahead of the other, the hazy veil sticking and shimmering around her. What was she doing anyway? Another step, this time not entirely of her own volition. Forward into the haze. Sinking in whiteness and the sound of water. The sound and the sense of something were pulling her in, pulling her close, folding around her like an embrace. Another hand brushed against hers, and she took hold of it cautiously. Long fingers twined around her own, and through the vague, rippling veil she could make out Ambrose' painfully hopeful smile. Kazul wrapped around his other arm, a faint look of shock on his open, earnest face. Hotaru approached her from the right, locking their hands together and offering a faint but genuine smile.<p>

Then, before she knew what she was doing, she was reaching out again. _They_ were reaching out again, together, brushing against the hazy curtains of imagination; pulling and pushing and reaching for something she couldn't define, until their arms were buried elbow-deep in white light. Blindly and trustingly, she stretched and clasped both hands around the heart of the white light, drawing it into her chest and letting it tide over her, immersing her completely.

* * *

><p>Aerin's eyes flickered, but would not open. They felt heavy. Her whole form felt heavy and weighted, exhaustion carved into the contour of every muscle and every primal sense of her magic. She was spent, completely emptied. Her whole body was being rocked and moved; a strong, warm hand rested on her back while her head fell against someone's chest. Briefly, there was a burst of conversation.<p>

"Nh, Raziel, go help Phoenix." Female, flat, an order.

"Lutoria Elspeth Of Linphea, what is the meaning of this?" Male, older, demanding

"What is this? An illegal force-hacker? By Dragon, are you in trouble, Miss Arazelia Calasynth Celalune!" Older female, shrieking- dulcet tones, _really_.

"All of them are out, and Ambrose has a nasty bump on the back of his head- It's bleeding a bit-"

"Let's get you settled, Phoenix- there's an awful case of burnout right there. Who did you have as a backup? Caspian and Winter? No wonder- Water and weather, borderline electric, are barely compatible, but a fire energy signature? I'll get you a fortifying draught." Reassuring, gentle. Aerin sighed softly. Familiar voices, familiar sounds.

"Can you see a change? I think Cameron's getting better already."

"Really?"

"He's gonna be okay."

Before she blacked out she felt the press of a warm pair of lips against her forehead, and the gentle assurance, "You did it, Aerin. It's over."

* * *

><p>Nickname: Ty-ty, Lelly, and generally a plethora of nonsense mumbo-jumbo that is in no way related to anything I actually have to say about the matter.<p>

Favourite Food: Hmmm, I like sweet food. Any kind of sweet food is preferable, especially the copiously frosting-covered kind or just straight sugar. Cake, candy, chocolate, pastries, cookies, biscuits, and the sherbert sticks that put me into sugar coma in, like, five minutes.

Favourite Colour: I don't really care. Green is nice, any green except for, you know, moldy or pukey green. I don't think it's possible to like puke green, or that ambiguous beige-y colour of the plastic used in old-style Earth computers.

Favourite Hobby: Tough one- probably dragon riding, um, eating? Annoying people, finding ways of getting things for free. I like doing nothing- I guess I'm chronically addicted to free time.

Favourite Pet: Areyu :) Tor says that I spoil 'Rey rotten, but it's not like she doesn't do it too. Hypocrite.

Ideal Girlfriend: Hot. Two legs. Female. Eh. [Hey, hey, no, don't hit me- _ow, ow, ow_! Tor! I hate you _so_ much!]

Best Friends: My abusive twin, Jeh-jeh and Caspy the friendly ghost. Sigh.

Favourite Movies: Anything big and ostentatious and exploding- Pirates of the Carribean, Battle Royale, James Bond, Lord of the Rings? Huh, yes. My taste is like a mix of Cass and Jakey and Tor, except I can't tell is a movie is bad or good or what. I can't differentiate between good and bad acting! It all looks the same... QAQ

Loves: Beaches, forests, chocolate, my bed, gossiping [oh, _do_ shut up, sister of mine- _OW!_], sleeping, chilling, pestering an and all friends, pulling pranks.

Hates: Having no-one to talk to, having to endure small fangirls of any variety, being stared at creepily, stampedes, Christmas shopping with grandparents *shudder*.

Favourite Music: Alternative synth and screamo, like Angelspit (100% awesomeosity), Born of Osiris, Nox Arcana, Deadsoil, Richthofen (it's kind of too bad they dissolved...), and Linphea's own Gates of Celestia. Yep, you heard right. You're looking at Gates of Celestia's number one fan.

Favourite Shoes: Are you really asking me this?

Favourite Subject: I like pretty much all of my electives, but the professor fo Mounted Aerobatics is a slave driver and Rhetoric never was my strong point, so I guess I would probably go for the Survival sub-branch of Tactics and Technically Dissasembly.

Favourite Attack: With a certain mod I made to my laser strings, it's now possible for them to project either a variable force field and an electric field. So, whoever tangles with me is in for a shock. Geddit, geddit?


	12. Chapter 12

**12: Team Raze Wears No Pants**

"CASPIAN! GET THE FREAK UP!"

"GO GO GO GRAB THE KETTLE WHERE'S THE BOXES OF INSTANT NOODLES?"

"I can't find my swim trunks-"

"-is that a pair of Speedos in my toiletries bag?"

"Who owns Speedos?"

"No, wait, it's a Borat mankini."

"Oh, frick, gross!"

"Throw it out the window!"

"No, I can't inflict that on the freshies below us!"

"Who cares about the freshies?"

"Aerin would _murder_ us!"

"...Good point..."

"Don't forget your mess kits, and the chopsticks on my bed!"

"Someone stole my toaster waffle!"

"Where's my hairbrush! Where is it, my hair's a mess!"

"Tie it up without brushing!"  
>"Can't!"<p>

"Yes you freaking can, and will!"

"I forgot my pillow, wait for me-"

"Two minutes!"

"I don't have any plastic bags-"

"Winter, you stole my deo-"

"Get out of my room, perv!"

"Geez! It's not like I've never seen you in your underwear-"

"-I'm freaking starkers, bitch!"

"-sorry, sorry, leaving, leaving now!"

"Where's my hair wax!"

"Forget that, where's that bloody hairbrush-"

"-my phone-"

"My camera!"

"WHERE'D MY SUITCASE GO?"  
>"-fuck, I forgot to pack my shit shoes-"<p>

"-my bed linen-"

"I lost my straightener!"

"Screw it! When are you going to have the time to use it anyway?"

"The sleeping bags!"

"-my sugar stash! Where'd it go!"

"Caspian, give it back!"

"No, no, don't run off with the noodles!"

Raziel walked out of the dorm, calmly dragging a suitcase behind him. A sleeping bag was tucked under his arm and a knitted Totoro beanie pulled over his blonde hair. He turned and looked at the other boys who ran from floor to ceiling cramming things into suitcases while shouting at one another and trying to pull jeans on (actually, that was just Winter).

"You should have packed last night," he told them. They stared at him.

When they started throwing cup noodles at him, Raziel beat a hasty retreat and slammed the door on them. Even when he was well down the corridor, he could still hear them screaming like maniacs.

* * *

><p>Tor eyed Tyler's suitcase and inspected him from the top of his very frazzled head to the toes of his scuffed and unlaced sneakers.<p>

"You didn't brush."

Tyler glared at her. "You think I had time?"

"You should've packed last night," Tor told him. Tyler huffed and turned around, nose in the air.

"And your shirt's on backwards."

Tyler did a double take, and flailed, hasty bun bobbing crazily. He pulled his t-shirt back up over his head, flipping it around and putting it back on the right way around. Nearby, a groups of girls fainted as they caught a five-second shot of shirtless prince.

"Now look what you did!" Tor snapped, smacking Tyler over the head. "What was that for!"

"What?" Tyler asked, flipping his hair out of his face.

"I accept that you have abs. I have abs too," Tor said slowly, "But you don't have to give deprived girls that kind of shock!"

"You talking about deprived?" Tyler said, eyebrow raised, "Look over there."

Raze, grinning with her shirt rolled up to reveal her considerably toned stomach, shouted, "Girl abs!"

Several of the Red Fountain boys drooled outright, while three and counting had collapsed face first into the somewhat damp ground.

Jehan and Raziel snuck up on the obviously preoccupied Winter and counted down from three. On zero, they poked him. He fell flat on his face. Phoenix dragged Raziel away and pulled the beanie off his head, putting it on herself.

"Here, have you put on sunscreen yet?"

Raziel shook his head and pulled off his stripy hoodie. Phoenix squirted some sunscreen along his arms. Raziel grinned and swiped a bit off the tube and smeared it across Phoenix's nose. Phoenix gasped in mock out-rage and made sunscreen war-paint stripes across Raziel's face. Raziel stuck his tongue out and proceeded to deal with the sunscreen on his arms.

"I don't get it," Tor said, blinking.

"No, of course you don't," Tyler said, rolling his eyes, "No-one gets it."

Winter sauntered up to them, running a hand through his hair and dislodging a dry leaf. "Hey, did anyone bring laundry detergent?"

"What? No, why?"

"Apparently, we have an activity where we're wading waist deep in mud," Winter said, "the mud is said to stink like turds."

"Trust me," Jake said, "It does stink like turds."

"How'd you know?" Winter asked. Jake snorted.

"Montrevre went there in second year," she explained, "Worst thing they could possibly have done."

"I remember that," Kaien said. "Rinsed my shirt for about fifteen minutes but the mud never came out. I had to chuck it after all."

"Wait, I thought you went to Emeldi on Valthair, not Montrevre?" Tyler asked, looking at Kaien in puzzlement.

Kaien shrugged. "I transferred."

"Montrevre's a big school," Jake said. "When I was trying to get the shitty mud out, I nearly burned my shoes to a crisp. Suffice it to say I had to chuck those too."

"Tyler," Tor said, shoving a hairbrush at him, "I still can't get over how big your suitcase is."

"What? I had a big box of instant noodle cups in there," he said, defensive. Tor snorted.

"Do you know how hard it is to pack around two 34DD sports bras without mangling them beyond repair? And still I have a smaller suitcase than you. Did you fold it or did you just stuff things in there and hope the zip will hold?"

Tyler squirmed uncomfortably. Tor threw her hands up in the air.

Phoenix and Raziel popped up from behind her.

"I throw my hands up in the air sometimes-"

"No, do the Galileo version!"

"Okay, okay; I throw my telescope in the air sometimes-"

"-sayin' ayo, I'm Galileo!" Phoenix belted out, pitch perfect but sounding ridiculous as usual.

"ABSTINENCE!" Raze shouted, jumping and pumping her fist in the air. She picked Jake up bridal style and paraded around the quadrangle before promptly depositing her in Kaien's arms. Upon doing so, she decided that sleeping on Winter's shoulder, while standing, was an appropriate course of action.

By then, the teachers had come out and started shouting for people to round up into groups. The girls separated reluctantly: Tyler, Phoenix, Raziel and Jake went to Group One with Wizgiz as Jehan, Kaien and Tor went to Group 2 with Palladium. Aerin, Raze and Caspian proceeded to Group 3 with Tor and Tyler's Aunt Miele, the newly instated Professor of Battle Magic at Red Fountain as Cass and Winter jogged after Group 4 with the little-known Professor Mirandir, Head of Mounted Aerobatics. Tyler and Tor latched onto their Aunt Miele like three-year-olds, and Miele had to forcefully shake them off.

Once the whole assembly had been calmed to a dull roar, the mass teleport took place. One moment, they were standing in the Alfea quadrangle. The next, they were standing in the quad of a beige and brown school. Presumably on Earth. A girl in an ill-fitting uniform crossed the quad, eyeing Tyler's hair with what seemed to be a mixture of awe, envy and abject lust.

"Stupid sexy bastard hair," was muttered. Tyler choked.

Of course, Jake laughed at him.

Jake laughed so hard that she got dizzy, and promptly fell on her bum. Of course, the groups had to be leaving by that point, and Kaien had to lift her to her feet and usher her along as she continued to laugh herself silly. Tyler flung his suitcase into the luggage compartment of the first double decker bus and stormed inside as Tor made a face and hoisted her luggage in after Jake and Phoenix's. Jehan's suitcase looked about ready to burst, and only Raziel seemed to be in any presentable state. Raze was snoring on Winter, latched onto him from behind as he struggled to swing his luggage into the bus. Tor sighed and picked up the case, throwing it in and relieving him of the drooling, snoring Raze. She whispered something and Raze woke with a jolt, hitting Tor on the shoulder and stalking into the bus. Winter grimaced.

There was something about those girls that made him think they could make the universe crash and burn if they saw fit…

In the bus, Winter immediately claimed the free seat next to Kaien. Raziel and Phoenix were in the two seats immediately in front of them, and were happily sharing an iPod. Raze had been deposited in the window seat of the seats across the aisle from Jehan and Tyler, with Tor sitting in the seat next to her. The other twins, the Andros ones, gagged as they made their way past the chemical toilet and sat in front of Tor and Raze. Aerin and Jake were further up front, and Aerin scowled out the window (obviously pissed) while Jake ignored her and twiddled at her PSP. Aerin grumbled and growled and pulled out her phone, firing off a text to check if Cameron, Ambrose, Hotaru and Kazul were okay. As her officially unofficial adoptees, she'd been reluctant to leave them to their own devices (especially after _the incident_) and had gotten into the habit of hovering over and remotely supervising the four younger boys. Much to their chagrin.

Eh. Moot point. Aerin's mind travelled onward.

Raziel got up and took out his earbud, turning in his seat to look over the headrest at Kaien and Winter.

"We are so late," he said, "We should have left, like, twenty minutes ago."

"I bet it's because someone slept in or took too long primping," Phoenix piped up. "Mmm. I love processed cheese. Do you guys like processed cheese? I have a stack."

Winter took a plastic-wrapped slice, because he did like processed cheese. Kaien took one out of courtesy. In the end, Winter ate it for him.

"Hey, look," Tor said, pointing out the window. It seemed like an Alfea girl had been accosted by the teachers and was currently in the process of being dragged aboard the double-decker vehicle.

"Excuse me!" Lisyl gasped, righting her sunglasses and dusting off her designer cropped jeans with one manicured hand, "That was inappropriate conduct! I could sue -"

"Ah," Miele said, lifting one finger. The stare she fixed on Lisyl was so commanding and stern that Lisyl shut her trap immediately. Tor and Tyler watched the unfolding drama with glee as Phoenix peered over the headrest more discreetly.

"Miss Lisyl of Unphrenia," Miele said slowly. "Sit."

Lisyl sat next to one of her supposed friends, who looked like a rabbit about to bolt at any minute.

"Please keep in mind, next time you may wish to hold up a congregation of one hundred and fifty nine students in order to apply the toxic gunk you refer to as make-up," Miele said, "I am indeed a Distinguished Professor of Battle Magic."

Lisyl gulped.

Miele glided effortlessly up the stairs to preside over the top deck of students. The screaming and sounds of fornication (was it even possible to do that in a double decker bus seat?) from above came to an abrupt halt.

Professor Mirandir sat down and threw a guitar case into the seat next to him. Grumbling, he pulled a beanie over his eyes and promptly leaned against the window, attempting to sleep. Jehan leaned over the aisle and poked Tor.

"Mirandir gets grumpy when he doesn't get enough sleep- that's why he never has any first period classes. There was a time when he was held up until, what, three in the morning by traffic- he was savage the whole day," he mumbled to her. "I'm still sore all over just thinking about it."

Mirandir shifted and lifted the beanie pulled over his eyes by a fraction.

"Jehan Caitlis," he muttered, "Shut up."

Jehan retreated to the relative safety of clinging to Tyler's arm. Tyler shook him off, scowling, and went back to attacking his hair with Tor's hairbrush. Phoenix fished something out from her bag and passed it up to Tyler.

"What is this stuff?" he asked, hanging onto his ponytail with one hand and the brush in the other.

"Detangling spray," she commented casually, occupied by another slice of processed cheese. Tyler sniffed delicately at the spray bottle and recoiled.

"It smells," he said.

"-like strawberries," she finished. "If you don't want to go bald I suggest that you use it."

Tyler scowled and shook his hair out of its ponytail.

"Move, Jeh," he muttered, getting up and stepping over the other boy with hair all over the place. Tyler shoved the bottled of detangling spray at Tor and shook out his hip-length hair over the aisle. Tor attacked Tyler's hair with detangling spray and shouted across to Aerin for another hairbrush; she dealt with one section while Tyler dealt with the rest. It took about fifteen minutes to return it to some semblance of its natural straightness, but they managed. Tor grilled Tyler about not sleeping with it in a braid, and Tyler responded acidly.

"Yeah, because I have the presence of mind to braid my hair at one fifteen in the morning," he snapped. Tor yanked on his hair, and Tyler was reduced to a yowling and incoherent hairball.

By then, the bus had pulled onto some unfamiliar road and proceeded through a suburban shopping district. Phoenix and Raziel stared open-mouthed at the four-wheeled vehicles contentedly trundling along the roads while Kaien decided that sleep was, in fact, an essential factor in his ongoing mental wellbeing.

"Catching flies, eh?"

Raziel jumped in his seat and looked at Phoenix, aghast.

"What?" Raziel blinked.

"Haven't you been to Earth before?" Phoenix seemed genuinely curious, and no hint of condescension was in her voice or expression. Raziel shook his head, bewildered.

"Oh," she said, "Well then. I am so dragging you down here next summer break. Have you ever spent- oh, no you haven't. So you should totally spend a summer in Sydney- it's scorching hot, but the beaches are sick and the ice-cream tastes better because it's so hot. And we need to go to my apartment, and the National Art Gallery, and the-"

Raziel nudged her gently. Phoenix stopped and smiled sheepishly. "Oh. Sorry, rambling."

A strand of hair fell out from her hastily constructed braid, and Raziel tucked it back behind her ear. Phoenix smiled and offered him two pieces of dried seaweed. He swapped her some chocolate and reclaimed his earbud.

Somewhere between 'You Need Me But I Don't Need You' and 'Love Reality', Phoenix fell asleep on his shoulder. The last thing he heard before the steady warmth of the sun and Phoenix leaning against him lulled him into a doze was the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar and the lyrics of an old song.

_I won't hesitate no more, no more  
>It cannot wait, I'm yours...<em>

* * *

><p>"Jeh, wake up" someone said, foggy and far away, "We're here already, Jehan."<p>

"Mhmm," he mumbled, scrunching his eyes firmly shut and swatting at whoever was shaking him. There was an impatient sigh, and they caught his hand mid-air, bending back is pinkie finger until a veritable eye-water of pain was elicited from him. He yanked his hand out of Tor's grasp and glared evilly at her. She smirked and shifted her backpack on her shoulder. He frowned at her again and stuck his tongue out, rolling out of the seat and grabbing his backpack from the luggage rack overhead.

Tor shoved him down the aisle ahead of her, and he crashed into Aerin, who promptly kicked him in the shin. He cursed, and hobbled out of the bus before getting hit in the face by Tyler's flying ponytail as the other boy whirled dramatically, marching off with suitcase in tow. He was then nearly bulldozed by Winter's monstrously large suitcase, dodging Cass' airborne duffel bag as she threw it to Caspian.

"What is this, gang up on Jehan day?" he muttered, grabbing his suitcase and stalking across to where the rest of the group were sitting. Raziel pouted and rubbed the sleep gunk out of his eyes as Tor unsuccessfully tried to deter Phoenix from dozing on her shoulder. Raziel slumped onto Kaien's shoulder, and Kaien patted his hair absently. Jake handed him a lemon drop and he popped it into his mouth, staring straight ahead as Caspian offered Aerin some sunscreen. She swiped the tube out of his hands and _covered_ herself in it. Out of all of them, Jake and Aerin had to be the fairest skinned. While it was not unusual for the red-haired Jake to have fair skin with warm undertones, Aerin was porcelain bordering on white; Raziel even more so. In Phoenix's words, he was so pale he _glowed_.

"Alright, everybody!" Miele called, to be summarily ignored by most of the hundred and sixty strong congregation of flirting teenagers. She scowled, propping her hands on her amply curved hips. Mirandir rolled his eyes and shoved Miele lightly, before putting his fingers to his lips and letting out an ear-splitting wolf-whistle. The busy or otherwise occupied students stopped and turned.

"Alright," Miele repeated, "That's better. Now you all know why we're here. This week is designed specifically to help Alfea and Red Fountain to bond, not only through your own year-group, but through our two schools. You'll do some challenging things, and face fears you probably didn't even know you had. Through this week, we expect each and every one of you to support everyone else through the good and the bad, and unlock the innate sense of adventure we know you all possess. Alfea and Red Fountain, welcome to the best week of the rest of your lives."

Raziel rolled his eyes and whispered to Phoenix, "Translation: Hell week."

Phoenix raised her eyebrow sleepily.

"My cousin, Ryushi," Raziel offered in the way of explanation. She nodded.

"We'll go up to lunch before we go on to our first activity," Mirandir announced, quieter in tone than the strident assertion of his fellow professor. "Get up, dump your stuff in you cabins, and come back out here. After that, we'll go to lunch."

The girls dragged their suitcases to their room, room 12. Next door, in room 11, Lisyl and her cronies were housed. The rooms were very, very cramped, with four bunk beds stuffed into a space properly meant for two. With the groups of six, their rooms had two empty bunks. Phoenix took the top bunk of the bed closest to the door; Raze bunked beneath her. Jake took a top bunk and Cass took the bed beneath her, while Aerin took the top bunk of one of the other free beds and Tor claimed the bed under her. Phoenix immediately set out her bed linen and sleeping bag, while Cass fished the kettle out of her suitcase and set it up with the power board using one of the room's two power points. There was a commotion next door, and the door flew open, slamming closed again. The door flew open several times, and several items were thrown out of the room as Lisyl's friends tittered over whoever had the indecency to put their things in the room of the supposed goddesses of Alfea.

Really, the supposed goddesses were the most freely available girls on the whole campus, when compared to the forbidden fruit status of the as-of-yet un-team-named girls that had been perpetuated by Tyler, Caspian, Ambrose, Kazul and Cameron, not to mention the rest of the S1 boys.

The girls, occupied with their unpacking and settling in, barely heard the discourse through the commotion of whatever was going on with the boys of room thirteen and the pillow fight in room ten.

"Please, Professor, can't you reorganise me into room seven? The girls in room eleven just threw my things out, and, I tried in all the other rooms-" A girl's voice, cracking with desperation, echoed faintly from the corridor outside.

"I'm sorry, Miss-"

"May, Alexandria May."

"-there was a mishap with the organisation, and room seven is now full to bursting- I don't even know how they even fit nine girls in there," Miele said. "Are you sure you've tried every other girls' room?"

There was a pause. "Um, not _room twelve_."

"Why ever not?"

"Um," she stuttered, "I'm- a bit..._scared_ of them. I mean, not meaning any offence or anything but they kind of took down a vecelius abrascus, and they kicked nukekubi butt _without _their powers and stuff-"

Miele laughed, a full-throated and warm sound. "I assure you, the girls of room twelve are probably the best girls for you to be with at the moment."

Miele hammered on the door, and yelled, "Tor, open up!"

"Yeah, yeah, Mie, cool your jets!" Tor yanked the door open, ducking to avoid being clocked over the head by Miele's aggressive door-pounding. Miele seemed taken aback, but less so than the petite Asian girl next to her. She quivered as Tor's figure filled the doorway, looming over her. Miele sighed and briefly hugged the girl around the shoulders as her gaze shifted to the floor.

"Room twelve," Tor sighed, "get your asses down here!"

The five other girls were soon jockeying to catch a look at the new girl.

"Who's that?" Jake shouted, elbowing Raze out of the way. Raze bodily picked the other girl up, dumping her on a bed and returning to the doorway.

"Did Lisyl and co kick her out?" Tor asked, voice dry. Miele made a face and nodded.

"They're all jerks," Aerin supplied, derisive. "I oughta pound'em for a value amounting to greater than their existential worth."

Phoenix shouldered her way through the crush and inspected the new girl from several different angles. Her shoulder-length hair was layered, and she had a very cute side-swept fringe. Slimline black-framed glasses slid down her small, flattish nose, and she clutched at a black trolley case handle. Her pink Rilakuma backpack immediately earned Phoenix's approval.

"I'm Phoenix," she grinned, sticking her hand out for the other girl to shake. "Please excuse those ingrates back there. They have no sense of when they're scaring someone or not."

"We're honestly not as scary as we make ourselves out to be," Raze said, peering down at the shorter girl. Cass smiled warmly.

"Come on in, uh-"

"Alexandria May," she murmured, "But you can call me Riah."

"Girls, meet Riah," Tor said, slinging her arm around Riah's shoulders. "Riah, meet the girls: Aerin Lilith of Zenith-the one you were having that whole debate thing about the Lyscian civil war with-, Cassia Evanthe of Andros, Arazelia Calasynth Celalune of Solaria, Phoenix Hayden of Melody, Jacelya of Eraklyon and, myself, Lutoria Elspeth of Linphea. But you can call us Aerin, Cass, Raze, Phoenix, Jake and Tor respectively. For the duration of hell week, you are officially under our jurisdiction and our protection, so if Lisyl gives you any more bullshit, let me know so I can pound her."

She looked up at them and smiled tentatively. Tor beamed at her and picked up her suitcase, throwing it into the room as Miele looked on in approval.

"Come on, Riah," Phoenix said, beckoning. "I'll help you get your sheets and sleeping bag settled."

* * *

><p>"Guys, this is Riah," Tor said, nudging Riah forward. Riah looked alarmed under the intense scrutiny of the boys. Tyler blinked and Caspian followed, before they looked at their sisters with the most perfect manifestation of a lack of comprehension on their faces. Tor snorted and Cass looked down her nose as if mortally affronted. Still they failed to comprehend exactly was meant. Raziel smiled and offered a hand to shake, which she took almost gingerly. Jehan ruffled her hair and she ducked instinctively, covering her head with both hands, before scowling and kicking Jehan in the shin out of instinct. Jehan cursed and hopped on one foot. Winter clapped slowly, looking suitably impressed, while the significance of the event finally dawned on both Tyler and Caspian. Riah grinned and bowed as the rest of the boys and girls clapped their hands, thoroughly impressed.<p>

"Jehan Caitlis," Kaien sighed, "Again, bowing to the superiority of the fairer gender."

Riah smiled winningly. Tyler and Caspian pinched her cheeks.

"You so cute," Caspian grinned.

Riah shrugged. "I try."

"So Mr. Blondie is Raziel, and the guy who you just owned is Jehan. Kaien is the dark-haired one, and ponytail boy is Tyler. Caspian is the curly-haired one and Winter is the redhead," Raze clarified. Riah nodded, inspecting each one of them as she peered up through her glasses. At the very least, they were ten inches taller than her, which was quite a significant difference.

"Riah! Riah, over here!"

Three girls ran up and engulfed Riah in and enormous embrace. Six other girls soon followed, and Riah shrieked, crushed in the centre of the embrace.

"Ack, Aura! Hope, you're squishing me half to death-!"

Tor waded into the fray and removed the beleaguered Riah from the tangle of overzealous girls.

"Thanks," she said, "Room 12 and Room 5, meet the gang from room 7. Gang, meet Room 12 and Room 5. That's Aura, Hope, Katya, Cate, Lishi, Juri, Dea, Rain and Elya. Aura, Hope, Katya, Cate, Lishi, Juri, Dea, Rain and Elya, meet Tor, Jake, Phoenix, Cass, Aerin and Raze, my room-mates. These guys are Raziel, Winter, Kaien, Jehan, Tyler and Caspian."

"Follow me up to lunch!" Miele yelled, gesturing. The girls shrugged and followed after the gang, who had charged ahead in a ten person line. Tor grinned and followed up to the hall.

"I'm starved," Tyler said, running after the gang. "Let's go!"

Kaien rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I think that Tyler thinks with his stomach, not his head."

Tor patted his shoulder. "You have no idea, my friend. No idea."

* * *

><p>"<em>This <em>is _lunch_?"

Phoenix nodded, chewing thoughtfully on her burger as Tyler stared at his meat patty, aghast.

"You look like someone just murdered your puppy, then turned it into a shawl and gave it to your ex-girlfriend to give to her smelliest great aunt," Jake said blandly, as Tyler continued to stare at the piteously inadequate meal set before him. The burger consisted of a flat burger bun, a half-a-centimetre thick meat patty and a slice of cheese, topped off with a measly squirt of tomato sauce.

"Never have I ever seen a burger more pathetic than that," Cass said, grimacing.

Nearby, one of Lisyl's friends shrieked at the sight of the meat.

"I specifically put down that I was to macrobiotic Monday through Wednesday, pesceterian Thursdays and vegan Fridays and Saturdays!"

Tyler blinked, and called down the table, "Can I have your burger?"

The girl blinked and shot the offending piece of meat one last disgusted glance before sliding her plate down the table. Tyler grabbed it as if someone would steal it in the next second, and proceeded to shove it into his mouth. Raze was already finished cramming herself, and sipped delicately from her second cup of tropical flavoured cordial.

"You guys better get some cordial before the ice in the tanks melts. It'll be weak by then," she said. Winter set his plate down, and stared at it as if by concentrating hard enough would make more food magically appear.

"My stomach still threatens to eat itself," Caspian proclaimed mournfully. Cass rolled her eyes at her brother's antics. Raziel popped the last morsel of his burger into his mouth and chewed slowly.

"If you'd have eaten more slowly, you'd be more full now," he said. Tyler scowled.

"At least we have instant noodles, right?"

Miele tried to get the attention of the students, and sighed as they continued to holler, fornicate, fight over food, shout and yell. She rolled her eyes and settled for pulling her softly curling chocolate brown hair into a high ponytail. Mirandir ran a hand through his teal-streaked black hair and picked up a chair, banging the legs on the ground until the congregation stopped and was silent. He looked upon the students for several moments and nodded.

"Better," he said.

Jehan grinned and shouted, "Next time you might want to invest in a megaphone, sir!"

"Caitlis. Two weeks' tack duty," he deadpanned. Jehan cursed. "Don't let me make it three."

Jehan shut up, and Tor punched him playfully, smirking. He narrowed his eyes. The corner of Kaien's mouth lifted in a crooked smile.

"We're going to activities now, so split up into your groups when we get back to the campsite. Groups 3 and 4 will be doing wet activities, so wear your yuck clothes," Miele said. Raze clamped her mouth firmly shut, trying to contain the giggles that threatened to bubble up from between her lips. Winter snorted, staring into his cup of cordial as Raziel looked at the ceiling, flushed pale pink.

The students vacated their seats most noisily and somehow managed to form up into their groups. Cass and Winter sauntered off arm in arm, heading for the cabins, followed by the cohort that made up group 3. The girls entered room 12, and Raze climbed over the various suitcases littering the floor to grab a large t-shirt of an ambiguous colour from her bags. Aerin grimaced as she grabbed her yucky clothes, stripping quickly and pulling on the ill-fitting garments. Cass looked her up and down, and barely repressed a snicker. Aerin glared at her. The fact that she hadn't wanted to come to camp couldn't have been of any benefit; despite the fact that she'd broken the wasting spell and restored Cameron's life-force, it could not be said that she was eager to leave her younger brother to his own devices in the forseeable future. Combined with the subpar comestibles and the general nature of Aerin's temperament, the Zenithian was becoming increasingly grumpy and irritated.

"I swear," she snapped, "these fit two days ago!"

Cass put both hands in the air in the universal gesture of 'calm down, crazy lady'.

Aerin winced as she slid out of the corridor. Cass covered her grin with a hand as the wolf whistles started. She couldn't help the snort that escaped her when she tracked about a dozen pairs of male eyes running up and down Aerin's body at the same time. Her t-shirt was awfully short, so short that a solid three and a half inches of toned stomach were exposed between the hem of her shirt and the waistband of her shorts. The garment pulled tight around even her, ahem, moderate endowments. The shorts she wore were so short that they could pass as underwear, exposing nearly every inch of her endless legs. Normally, she wouldn't have been given a second glance, but with her 'display', even she was fair game to the sophomore boys.

Caspian draped his arm around his sister's shoulders, openly looking Aerin up and down. Cass elbowed him.

"Don't let her catch you looking," she grinned, "She'll kill you."

Caspian rolled his eyes. "Really, you'd think I don't have half a brain the way you go on like that."

"Aw, you know I don't mean nothing by it," she said, ruffling her brother's hair and sliding out from under his arm. "Can I steal your jumper?"

Caspian obliged, shedding his blue and white hoodie. Cass threw it to Aerin, who hastily donned it, despite the sweltering heat. Mirandir wolf-whistled and shouted from group 3 to assemble, and Cass left Aerin to deal with her new-found pseudo-admirers.

_Smarmy bastards_, Aerin thought mutinously, cursing as a piece of gravel lodged itself in her shoe as she trekked across the campgrounds to the supposed location of a survivor challenge. She doubted that it would be much of a challenge, given her experiences with the vecelius abrascus, not to mention the vortex demon and the devilish nukekubi.

Caspian nudged her, and she whipped around to glare at him. His eyebrows rose, and she sighed, pursing her lips.

"What do you want?" she snapped impatiently. Caspian shrugged.

"Just want to know if you're boiling yet," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Aerin did not deign to reply, and he rolled his eyes.

"This is the survivor challenge," Miele explained, gesturing at the tyre islands sunk in a muddy pond-esque water body. "Each team gets three wood planks and three pieces of rope to get all the team members across to the boardwalk in the middle of the pond without falling into the water. Falling in is a thirty second time penalty; dropping a board is ten seconds. Got it? Good. Everyone I tag as a one goes to the far end, the twos go to the near end."

As luck would have it, Caspian and Aerin were numbered ones. It seemed as if Raze would almost be numbered a two, but she narrowly escaped when one of the other girls demanded a swap. The Ones consisted of a group of about fifteen Red Fountain and Alfea students; Aerin recognised Hope and Dea from Riah's gang. Caspian pointed out Alistair del'Roche, Halion ("Never call him Halion- he'll bite your head off. Just go with Hale, for safety reasons...") Elomar, and Zaki Frost, noting with distaste that both 'Zaki of the Wandering Hands' (you couldn't blame him, the poor thing, with two overprotective older sisters and a nine o'clock curfew) and Christian Maverick were both in their group. Raze recognised a few of the boys that she'd seen hanging around Jehan and Tor during dragon-racing club, but mainly made a point of staring down Lisyl's cronies.

Zaki stared at the course, blank of ideas as his hands unconsciously reached for Hope's hair. Hope scratched her head and swatted Zaki's hand away absently, while Hale chatted one of the other girls up. The boy that Caspian had pointed out as being something-or-other Maverick stood next to her as Aerin examined the layout of the course, glancing at the two-metre-ish long wood planks and gauging the distances between each tyre island.

"Ls and Ts," she muttered. Maverick stared at her, and she chose to ignore that he seemed to be mentally undressing her.

"Is that a kink?"

She chose to ignore that, too.

"Frost, Elomar, get the first plank down and thread the first rope through the top hole," she directed, sliding easily into command mode. They seemed taken aback, but obeyed her directive.

"Okay, lower the plank using the rope onto that island, over there. Yes, yes, keep going- Watch it, Elomar, you nearly dropped it! Oh, okay, good."

She walked across the plank, onto the concrete island. "Someone else, come up here and help me move the plank across to the next island. Then, we'll move up another plank and make the T across the the next island up from these two."

Maverick went across the plank, suspiciously quickly, almost. As Aerin grabbed the rope and grunted, pulling the plank up and off the starting platform, Maverick held onto the rope, backing her up but doing it in awkwardly close proximity.

"Okay, now swing another plank across and a couple more, Hope, you and you and you-"

"Where'd you learn my last name from?"

"-not what I meant. This isn't working- we need to be on a name basis. You over there-"

"Yulisa."

"-Yulisa and girl next to her and guy next to girl-"

"Eve."

"Morgan."

"-get up and help us make the T up to the next tyre island."

Hope and Yulisa went up first, with Morgan and Eve following behind. With a great deal of jostling, bumping and accidental grinding (on the part of Morgan and Yulisa), they managed to move the plank, whereupon Aerin proceeded to the next island. The rest of the group were organised into formation and placed the last plank, before climbing onto the precarious structure. Such a strategic formation created a lot of shouting and jostling as the last plank was moved up and through to Aerin, who lowered it onto the next island, again, with Maverick's assistance. On more than one occasion, people very nearly fell off. Aerin was on two, once because of Hope's over-enthusiasm and once because Raze had no measure of control over her long legs. Caspian nearly tripped over one of the ropes before Eve caught him around the waist (for far too long than was necessary, in her opinion) in a way that made her inexplicably irritated. Zaki's wandering hands wandered to a place which Hope did not expect, which she responded to by slapping him across the face, leading to a near-catastrophic overbalance.

As they moved up the course, closely watching the other team, Maverick's behaviour became progressively bolder. Caspian narrowed his eyes as Maverick's hand brushed across Aerin's hip, _again. _Either she was ignoring it, or was too busy screeching orders to notice. Probably the latter- she was blind as hell to whatever she didn't want to see, even if it was painfully obvious even to the sexually starved like poor old Zaki Frost.

Poor, poor boy.

As Aerin continued to be unresponsive to Maverick's advances, his actions became increasing more brazen to the point of near suicidal. A brush across her hip became a brush across the waistband of her shorts; grabbing the rope from behind her became and extremely suggestive position in which their bodies were pressed flush against one another. Steadying her by holding her arms became steadying her by holding her waist and then her hips, until Raze actually had to place a hand on Caspian's arm to jolt him from his unconscious death-glaring at them. He narrowed his eyes at the blonde. She narrowed her eyes and mouthed, _no_. He frowned and moved back across the planks to where Hale and Alistair had moved forward.

Aerin felt her eyebrow twitch as Maverick brushed against her, _again_. Was he stupid, or just unobservant? She was blatantly ignoring his suggestive contact, going on the principle that if he didn't elicit a reaction, he'd stop. Obviously, she must have misread her psychology textbook or he was just bloody perverted, because he wouldn't stop damn _touchi__ng_ her. With a grunt of effort, she lowered the plank on the second to last island, within one and a half metres of the boardwalk in the middle of the pond. Again, a pair of arms wrapped around from behind her, grabbing the rope even though the blasted plank was inches from being completely down. She bit back a growl of irritation as she handed the rope off to del'Roche and crossed the plank, putting her weight on end of plank to stabilise it. Yulisa and Frost edged across after Maverick, with the comparatively smaller Yulisa occupying the island with Aerin and Maverick. Raze dragged up the unused plank and passed it across through the hands of Lisyl's cronies, who were suprisingly helpful and obliging in the less than comfortable situation. Well, that was until _it_ happened.

One of the minions' hands slipped, sending the heavy piece of wood flying from her grip into Hope's foot. Hope bellowed a swear and clutched at her foot, overbalancing and knocking Zaki into the water before she, too, tipped, landing on top of him. Hale and Alistair were clinging to one another as Raze tried to steady the shaking structure when Maverick decided that he'd had enough and reached out, grabbing a handful of Aerin's ass and squeezing.

Aerin whirled, fist flying into his face with a satisfying crunch that sent him flying onto the boardwalk with a very loud thud.

All hell broke loose as Aerin launched herself at Maverick, fists flying. Yulisa screamed, thrown off balance and tipping into the water, dragging Hale with her, who dragged Alistair, whose legs tangled with the rope strung into the plank, pulling it down into the water and as a consequence, throwing Morgan and the cronies into the water. Raze was roughly pulled into a side-splits position with a howl of pain, before the motion of the plank and the rope tangled around her ankle pulled her into the water.

Apparently, Maverick hadn't gotten the message, because he grabbed her boobs with both hands and slammed his lips onto hers. She snarled and let fly, Aerin drew her fist back and threw all her weight into the blow, smirking sadistically as blood flew from Maverick's already ruined nose while he persisted in retaining his grip on her smaller but well rounded signs of womanhood.

"Fucking-" _punch,_ "-sonofa-" _punch, _"_bitc__h_!" _Double-whammy punch!_

For good measure, she dragged him upright and rammed her knee into a place in which no human male should ever be kneed.

Aerin had blacked both his eyes, punched a tooth out, smashed his nose in and was in the process of trying to break fingers when Caspian and Raze finally dragged her off. Miele ordered the dripping Zaki, water-logged Alistair and unrecognisable Yulisa to take Maverick to the first aid centre and rounding on the fuming, struggling Aerin, who still had hands outstretched and ready to mutilate Maverick's face with.

Suffice it to say, Caspian found her ever more beautiful in her fury.

Raze shook her head and thought, _A__nd to think that men say they can't understand women_.

* * *

><p>"Dinner was a load of crap," Tyler muttered mutinously, sulking with Caspian as they trudged back to the campfire. Caspian mulishly refused to offer a response, dragging his hood over his head and jamming his hands into his pockets. He winced as his shoe sunk into a patch of mud with a wet squelch.<p>

"Nyah, it wasn't _too_ bad," Phoenix said, draping an arm affectionately around Tyler's shoulders. "Lean down a bit, would you?"

Tyler, still in a funk, shoved Phoenix's arm off him. She growled and socked him in the arm, hard, before scooting over to Raziel, who obligingly encircled her in a one-armed embrace. She smiled, snuggling happily and perfectly oblivious to the suddenly hesitant and nervous set of his body. Ehgad, was she trying to provoke the notoriously innocent and painfully shy-around-girls Raziel? Jake rolled her eyes and shoved her hands into the pockets of her windbreaker.

"So, what's with all the dark clothes, again?" Jake asked, trotting to keep up with Raze's long strides.

"Commando," the taller girl grunted.

"What? You're not wearing underpants?" Jake asked, aghast. Tor arched an eyebrow as Raze shot Jake a look.

"Of _course_ not, dimwit. Commando is a kind of outdoor game," Raze huffed, exasperated. Jake blinked, and shook her head solemnly.

"That didn't explain a thing," she muttered.

"Cheer up, Little Red," Kaien said, smiling slightly. "It's not just you."

Jake pouted and Kaien patted her head awkwardly. Phoenix giggled at their antics and promptly wriggled out from under Raziel's arm to glomp Jake. Jake smiled and hugged back briefly, before brushing her red hair out of her face and adjusting her dark-coloured baseball cap.

"So, on the subject of commando," she said, looking pointedly at Tor and Cass for some sort of a better clarification. It was unlikely that Raze, Tyler or Caspian would provide a response, seeing as they were still all of a flutter over the substandard evening meal; Aerin still exhibited homicidal tendencies toward the male gender. Raziel still looked vaguely discombobulated and she didn't want to risk sending the poor boy into an emotional meltdown. Jake had found, over the course of the day, that Raziel had little or no tolerance for bawdy humour, ribald comments and even the trusty, if over-used and slightly worn out 'that's what she said'.

Tor smirked at Raze and told Jake, "Nope, she meant exactly what you thought. She ain't wearin' no pants under there."

Raziel looked at the sky as if seeking divine assistance.

Cass elbowed the other girl. "Stop it, Tor. Commando's a game where you run around in the dark and look for people who've been held prisoner and you have to try and rescue everyone without getting caught by the teachers who're holding flashlights."

"Oh," Jake said. "That sounds significantly more fun than wearing no pants."

Raze smacked her hand to her forehead.

"Boo!" Jehan yelled, suddenly springing up behind Phoenix. She shrieked and clung onto Raziel for dear life, before realising that it was just Jehan and frowning at him.

"_Jehan_!" she whined, "That was uncalled for!"

Jehan cackled and ducked back into the shadows as Winter's foot sank into the mud with an alarmingly wet squelch. He swore a blue streak and stalked forward after Jehan, yelling at the other boy to stop with his antics and get back on the damn path. Some of the more conservative Alfea girls gave them a wide berth while Hope, Elya, Aura and Katya cheered Winter and Jehan on.

"Team Caitlis!" Katya cheered, waving her arms.

"Team de Grey!" Aura shouted, clapping wildly.

"Team Raze Wears No Pants!" Hope grinned. Raze moved to sock her one, but the smaller girl ducked and slid behind Zaki, smirking devilishly while using the taller boy as a human shield. Zaki gulped. After all, he was barely an inch taller... and barely a smidge more muscular... and goodness knows how aggressive hormonal women could get...

Zaki picked Hope up and ran for it.

Raze's derisive snort carried through Hope's shrieks of protestation. Ever unflappable, Kaien simply raised both eyebrows and wasted a vaguely disapproving look on the back of said derisive snorter's head.

"Darlin'," Phoenix purred, "You're a genius."

When she pounced and appropriated a piggyback from him, things pretty much went into the proverbial toilet. Jake smirked. At least it was funny- so funny, in fact, that she jumped at Raziel, who shrieked like a little girl and bolted. That launched Winter into a whole new round of yelling, and Jake wondered who was really the mom in the boys' group. Obviously, Raziel was the baby brother, and Caspy and Tyler with the gossipy twins, while Kaien was like the ninja-master grandpa or something, which left Jehan or Winter to be dad and mom, respectively. Damn. She wanted to ship them so hard. Raziel put his head in his hands and hid behind Cass, who started sniggering uncontrollably. Jake blinked.

"I said that aloud, didn't I." A nod of confirmation, and more sniggers. "Damn."

"And cue lights." Phoenix pointed at the flood-lit clearing in front of them, over Kaien's head. Jehan had already arrived, and Winter chased him around the circular clearing, screaming threats as Hope, Aura and Katya cheered. Kaien would've facepalmed, had he not been piggy-backing Phoenix, so she did it for him, except too hard, leaving a bright red smack mark right in the centre of his forehead. Tor snickered and Kaien shot her a death squint. She snorted and flounced after Winter, intent on foiling his efforts to rein the mischievous Jehan in. She tackled the redhead and then launched herself at her paramour, launching a tickle attack which quickly had Jehan cackling and writhing uncontrollably.

Winter had finally yelled them both into submission when Mirandir pulled out his phone, jacked it up to full volume and turned on the high-pitched screaming of an infant mandrake. Hope shrieked and turned her ferocious death-grip on Riah, who squeaked and tried to breathe. Kaien winced and Jake clapped both hands over her ears, while Phoenix hid behind Cass and Winter finally ran out of breath, face nearly as red as his hair. Mirandir only shut off his phone when all of them, to every last wandering hand and fluttering eyelash, were stock still and seated.

"I'm sure you're all familiar with the premise of commando," Miele smirked, nudging Mirandir, who sighed and huddled into his black jacket. "And I _don't_ mean the lack of underwear thing. We four old people are gonna randomly choose a pack of about eight people who'll be our 'prisoners', and the rest of you guys've got to rescue them in groups of seven without getting caught by us. If you get caught, we'll take your life tag-" (she held up a strip of ribbon) "- and we'll send you back to the clearing, where you'll have to get a new tag and start from scratch."

"We'll be armed," Mirandir added, face completely straight. Several audible gulps were heard. Miele shoved him and produced a long, silver cylinder.

"With flashlights," Miele said. "And don't even think about skipping out on the life tags. You can't rescue anyone without a life tag."

Jehan and Tor both mouthed the same curse at the same time, before grinning at one another.

"Okay! Hmm, let's see... who to pick...?" Miele grinned devilishly, examining the circle of faces with an almost evil glint in her eye. She rubbed her hands together and licked her lips. "Zaki Frost. You're up."

Zaki got up reluctantly, peeling Hope off him as the tiny girl grinned sadistically.

"Aneli Viada," Mirandir said, pointing at the Alfea girl. She gulped and got up to join Zaki's impromptu huddle.

"Raziel Shirane," Miele said. Cass shoved the blonde to his feet as Tor warily eyed the suspiciously gleeful expression on Miele's face.

"Luce Elomar."

Miele cleared her throat and pointed. "Gedd Stromsson."

A mountain of a boy, all muscularity and bull neck, with a crudely hewn features and buzz cut, rose out of a cluster of similarly constructed creatures. Turning, he lumbered over to join Raziel, Zaki and Luce. Raziel gulped. Gedd glared down at him.

Kaien's eyebrows rose. Winter's lips formed the words, _Raziel is dead_.

* * *

><p>"Watch the puddle," Luce pointed out helpfully. Raziel carefully sidestepped and offered his arm to Aneli, who had just wobbled over a branch and nearly face-planted in a conglomeration of muck. Gedd lumbered forward behind him, and Raziel could feel the heated glare boring into the back of his head. He didn't think that his black beanie provided adequate protection, but was glad of it anyway. Oh, he was in for it. He was going to die, if not from being stifled to death by the overly clingy Zaki, from Gedd's vengeful ire. Damnit. He really shouldn't have let Winter egg Gedd into trying to fit through that toilet seat- he should've known the mountain of a man wouldn't have fit, like he could with his double jointed shoulders and all-round skinniness.<p>

Oh, mother of all crap.

"Well. Here we are!" Miele announced, pointing to a roughly house-shaped structure composed of steel pipes and not much else. He ducked into the confines of the structure while it took quite some coaxing from Aneli and Erykhy Prince, another one of the 'captive' girls, to coax Zaki into the confined space, especially since the notoriously touchy Arlen Escarrega _and_ Gedd, who was pretty much out to get him too, shared it. Fortunately, Katya of Riah's gang seemed to have had previous relations with the broody, snappish and paranoid Arlen, and had engaged him in a one-sided bout of spirited conversation. Really, it was the same as speaking at a brick wall- a brick wall trying very hard to achieve the appearance of imperceptibility. So maybe Arlen wasn't so dangerous. Maybe Miele had pulled him out of the 'rescue' group because he was so silent and paranoid, impossible to sneak up on and nearly invisible behind a curtain of black hair over one eye. Katya must go for the broody, dark types, he thought. Good. She wouldn't... _advance_ upon him. Neither would Luce or Erykhy, and as Katya was otherwise occupied, that left Aneli who could possibly maybe try things. And that would probably result in his already imminent demise.

Gedd, well, he already had one reason to flatten Raziel. Adding to that by having a girl hitting on him when there were none for the human mountain would have disastrous consequences and collateral damage. Zaki, as if sensing his train of thought, tentatively wrapped his arms around the blonde and cuddled, nuzzling into his hair. Raziel patted Zaki absently, rocking slightly as the other boy's pale blue hair tickled his cheek. Zaki was so _cuddly _ and _ huggable_. It was just the way he was. He handed out free hugs like regular people made crude jokes. Katya's mouth dropped open as Luce gaped openly. Both ripped their hoodies open (Raziel flinched involuntarily), to (thankfully) reveal identical black shirts bearing identical white manga-font messages.

_WILL YURI FOR YAOI_

Arlen choked on his own spit and sank into a fit of strangled garbling. Erykhy's yelped and immediately started to whack him on the back, vigorously. So vigorously, in fact, that she send him flying face-first into Gedd's torso with a heavy smack (which was surprising, as Arlen was built and Erykhy was a waifish slip of a thing). Gedd immediately threw Arlen off him, hurling him into Erykhy, sending both to wallop into a pole. As Miele had stalked off with a maniacal grin to hunt the more evasive of the 'rescuers', Aneli did not hesitate to break from the confines of the dangerously enclosed steel-pole-house-frame-thing, crouching and covering her head with both arms. Raziel instinctively flung Zaki out of the path of danger and accidentally delivered him into the grip of the two fujoshis (debatable point, that; was the fangirl more dangerous than a one hundred and ninety-five pound hunk of muscle? He made a mental note to discuss with Phoenix later) before diving out and skidding to a halt some way out. Gedd cracked his knuckles, flexed his biceps and broke into a charge.

Katya and Luce screamed and broke, dragging Zaki with them as the rampaging human mountain lowered his head and bulldozed toward them. Zaki tripped on Luce's foot and sent both tumbling to the ground as Arlen and Erykhy struggled to get up from their largely entangled position. Erykhy kept slipping and winding Arlen, who kept trying to pushed her off with limited success. Gedd as almost on top of Zaki and Luce, and showed no signs of slowing down. He simply thundered onward, braced with clenched fists to make impact. Making a snap decision, Raziel took two steps and broad-sided Gedd.

He wasn't heavy enough, nor did he have enough velocity, to do anything more than push the other boy off course, but it did buy Zaki and Luce enough time to scramble out of the path of danger. On the other hand, though, Gedd was way madder than he was before, and he took the opportunity to settle the score. Raziel prayed to any listening higher power that Gedd would decide to let it slide. After all, it was only a toilet seat, and the humiliation and jeering had died down already...

Apparently not. Gedd lunged toward him in the name of male honour.

An expletive escaped him as he dived out of the way, stumbling and turning quickly as Gedd rushed past him not ten centimetres away. Head down, the giant barely had time to decelerate enough so as to not crash into any sort of tree or shrub. Raziel regained his footing as Gedd turned rapidly and lunged at him. He dodged, but Gedd twisted and his massive hand closed on the back of his jacket. He twisted and struggled, but the other boy's grip was unrelenting. Quickly, he wriggled around and unzipped his jacket, sliding out of it as Gedd raged backward and flung the useless article of clothing away.

"Watch out! Nine o'clock!' Zaki yelled, and Raziel turned, automatically dropping into a leg sweep as Gedd's fist whooshed past is head, dizzyingly quickly. Gedd jumped and Raziel hurled himself out of the way as he barrelled forward. Aneli started screaming when Gedd collided with his back, throwing him into the mud and knocking the breath out of him. Zaki started shouting for help while Arlen took the opportunity to slink off into the darkness with an insistent Katya in tow. Raziel winced as he blocked another one of Gedd's powerful blows and twisted when the he tried to pin him to the ground. Gedd's fist struck the mud, splashing it into his hair as the larger boy brought his full weight down on Raziel's body. Rather underhandedly, the blonde jabbed a straight-fingered blow at Gedd's throat while turning as much as he could to elbow him in the solar plexus. Gedd grunted and reached down with both hands to fasten around Raziel's throat. Panicking, he slammed his head forward and connected firmly with the other boy's skull. He hissed in pain as Gedd let out an unexpected bellow and loosened his grip. Summoning a superhuman burst of energy, he jerked his knee up and out, lashing out with an arguably low blow and freeing himself. He scrambled to his feet, rubbing his forehead as his ears rang. Damnit. Did Gedd have a skull of diamond or something? He didn't want to wallop or get walloped, but he really didn't have much going for him apart from his speed and agility, which didn't even do that much in such a tiny little clearing with a metal house-frame in the middle. Aneli, Erykhy, Luce and Zaki had wisely taken refuge behind the structure as Raziel ducked, dodged and blocked Gedd's attacks.

Miele crashed back into the clearing, alerted by Zaki's yelling, just as Gedd slammed into his block and threw him flat on his back. He slid backward and collided into a pair of boots attached to a pair of slim legs.

"Oh, my Dragon, Raziel!" Phoenix peered down at him and he offered her a sheepish smile and a weak, muddy-handed wave.

There was a loud crash as Jehan and Tor double teamed to fly-tackle Gedd into a bush. Mirandir galloped into the clearing with Arlen in tow (were those two related? It was entirely possible, he supposed, with their terrible morning attitudes and their equally taciturn dispositions and the same slant of their cat-like, half-closed eyes; Raziel needed to stop reading chick-lit, if he was going on in terms like that), brandishing his flashlight as Winter, Kaien and Raze wrestled the gleefully brawling Jehan and Tor off Gedd, who was doing an admirable job of fending both of them off.

"Stromsson! Shirane! What _are _you doing?" Miele snapped, dragging Raziel to his feet by the front of his shirt.

"Zaki snuggled and then the fujoshis did the whole shirt-ripper and then Arlen choked, Erykhy threw him into Gedd, who threw them and broke into a charge and I broadsided him and then Arlen ran off and Zaki started screaming and then everything became a blur."

Miele stopped and furrowed her face into a 'WTF?' expression. "What even?"

Raziel sighed and pointed at Zaki. "Please, just get him some sugar, or someone to huggle with. Preferably female. Actually both would be good. Quickly, before his soul escapes permanently."

Zaki, already pale and wilted, drooped out of shock. Both fujoshis descended into a fit of gushing until Hope arrived, pushed them off and dragged Zaki away, muttering profanities. Phoenix smiled and waved.

* * *

><p>Phoenix crept across the quadrangle in her rolled-up pyjama pants and pink flip-flops, carrying a toiletries bag and a toothbrush in one hand. Slowly and silently, she stuck her ear against the door and listened for the sound of voices. When she didn't detect any sound, save for the steady trickle of a shower running, she pushed open the door and snuck inside.<p>

Awesome. Empty bathroom. She sighed, relieved. It'd been a risk to sneak into the boys' bathroom, but if she hadn't she could have been facing the very real threat of having to go to bed without having cleaned her teeth, washed her face and brushed out her hair. And she really didn't want to see that many girls parading around in strange underwear. She got that enough in the dorms back at Alfea from Tor and Raze (the parading, not the strange underwear; though it was more unselfconsciousness that 'parading' per se) and she didn't want to deal with that at the moment, especially since Phoenix knew that she'd freak out and spazz about all the inappropriately tiny sleepwear around, simply because it was impractical, and cold, and stupid, especially in this weather. This was an outdoor education camp, not some lingerie runway; she doubted they were impervious to early spring cold and she didn't want them to tease her for her big, soft, snuggly flannel pyjamas either.

She digressed.

Just as she placed her toiletries on the bench against one wall, she noticed a passed-out Jehan stretched out along the narrow bench with his arms cushioning his head. She held in a giggle as she progressed from his sweatshirt to his pyjama pants down to his fluffy socks. Oh, that was just so adorable, no wonder Tor was always all over her lover-boy like they'd both die the next day. Phoenix carefully gathered up his things in a neat pile and nudged him awake. It took several tries to get him to move from 'comatose' to 'dazed'; she gently shoved him in the general direction of his cabin with his pile of stuff in tow. At the very least, maybe Tor would find him. Phoenix smiled and waved after him, before setting her things down and taking out her toothbrush. As she squeezed toothpaste from the tube, the shower continued to run.

Raziel sighed as the steady stream of hot water slid over his shoulders, sliding in fat drops over his chilled skin. Hot water fell into his eyelashes, and he blinked them back and wrapped his arms around himself. Self-consciously, he touched the bruises on his arms and the sore spot on his back. Gingerly, he inspected the split skin across the knuckles of his left hand. Not his leading hand, no, but it'd been all fast and blocks and a stray punch here and there to satisfy his self-preservation instinct. Vaguely, he could hear a tap running and steady scrubbing of a toothbrush, but he sank into the sensation of the hot water without any further regard for it. It felt good on his aching body and the sight of all that grime and mud shedding off his skin in rivulets... the slow swirl of water down the drain passed with a soothingly rhythmic trickle and plop. He scrubbed at his face with both hands before sighing heavily and turning off the hot water. Grabbing his towel and dropping it onto his head, he kicked his clothes out from under the door.

"Um, could you chuck these in the sink for me, please?" A soiled shirt and a pair of slim-fit dark wash jeans slid out from under the cubicle door, and Phoenix picked them up gingerly with her fingertips. The jeans were a little bit nicked and worn around the back pockets, and an area of wear on the left knee threatened to turn into a hole. The shirt was a plain black long-sleeved tee from a generic brand, something she'd buy if she were a guy; actually, something she'd buy anyway- She liked loose fitting clothes. Phoenix had to try not to giggle when she saw a pair of boxers slide out. She picked them up equally carefully and dumped them in the sink, running the water and glancing over her shoulder as the fog on the mirrors slowly subsided. She was mid-way through washing out the jeans when the stall door creaked open and a sodden blonde head poked out. Said blonde head turned to face her green-pyjama clad back, and they yelped, slamming the door shut.

"Phoenix!"

Raziel stuck his head out of the stall, a violent blush suffusing his cheeks. He was luminescently pale again, and she welcomed the reprieve from the mudball that he was twenty minutes ago.

"Hi, mudball!" she grinned, waving and pushing her sleeves up. She brushed a strand of hair out her face and scrubbed vigorously at the mud-coated jeans. Raziel made a noise that was a cross between a moan of abject desperation and what was obviously a growl of frustration, which was, of course, _incredibly_ arousing. She could just imagine him making that little growly sound as she- okay, okay perverted thoughts, backing up, backing up from the perverted thoughts...

"Don't look, okay!" he shouted, scooting out of the cubicle in a towel and boxers. He threw the towel down and dragged his long-sleeved sleep shirt on, but not before Phoenix caught a glimpse of his very toned body. He really was nothing like most of the rough around the edges RF boys- he was all wiry muscle and greyhound leanness built for speed and agility, rather than the brute strength and bulbous biceps of most of the supposed heroes that went to the Academy. The boxers hung provocatively low on his hips- She bit her lip and looked down, trying to un-blush the heat that was creeping across her cheeks and the tips of her ears. Goodness gracious, she was so _utterly_ susceptible to the beauty of the male body that it was ridiculous. She punched the jeans and went to pounding them with renewed fervor. Behind her, there was thunking and swearing as Raziel pulled on his pyjama pants.

She was so absorbed in getting all the mud out of the stitching on Raziel's jeans that she didn't notice that he'd come up behind her. A warm, solid presence was at her back, and arms reached around her removing her frozen hands from the soaking mess in the sink. The right hand turned the cold water tap off; the left reached up and produced a towel. Phoenix had stopped moving by then, hypersensitive to the sound of soft breathing in her ear and the strength in the hands that encased hers with a damp but fluffy towel. The split skin of the knuckles on his left hand was angrily red and surrounded the membrane of soft pink tissues forming new skin to replace what was lost.

"Your hands are frozen," Raziel said softly, peering over her shoulder. He smelled like clean clothes, suitcase and hotel shampoo, but it wasn't too bad, compared to the smell of mud.

"Hold onto the towel," he said, lifting her hands out of the sink, "I'm going to see what you've done to my poor jeans."

She nodded mutely as he lifted the offending article out of the metal sink. Raziel wrung it out several times and lifted it up, inspecting each inch of the dark fabric.

"I'm impressed." Phoenix nodded and Raziel made a funny little noise, flinging the jeans into the sink with his previously mud-coated shirt.

"You smell nice," he said, burying his nose in her hair. Phoenix hunched her shoulders, opening her mouth then closing it rapidly for fear of stuttering like a hopeless idiot and killing the moment. As she shifted, Raziel's arms had wrapped around her in a very soft and warm kind of embrace, one of those ones where you could tear through it like paper but you seldom did, because it was just so nice. She turned around, and her arms wrapped around him, finding his hand with one of her icy ones, placing soft kisses around the little hurts. She buried her face in the soft, faded cotton of his shirt and she breathed in his clean and sweet Raziel smell- it didn't smell so much of suitcase and a little bit more like her pyjamas instead. They both made a happy kind of 'hmm' noise at the same time and they stayed like that, just warm, sleepily happy and together in a state of chronocide, until the night supervisor started screaming at people to get into cabins.

Phoenix couldn't help smiling sleepily. Raziel nuzzled her neck, mumbling.

"Moment –" he started.

"-killed dead," she finished. Phoenix yawned. Raziel checked that the coast was clear for her, and she sprinted out of the boys' bathroom with Raziel following.

* * *

><p><strong>[Yah, Winter, let me go back to sleep! Hey- <strong>_**ow!**_** Eesh, Raziel-]**

**[Pull out! Pull out! Kaien's going into demon mode!]**

**[Fear the wrath of the unholy beast!]**

**[You are **_**so fucking dead**_**, Caspian! You are **_**SO. DEAD!**_**]**

**[Get out of here!]**

**[Stop stating the obvious, Jehan- God, is he-]**

**[Get out of there **_**now**_**, Raz!]**

**[OhMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD]**

**[The door's locked, right?]**

**[Yeah?]**

**[Phew. Hi. It's Raziel here again. Since Kaien refused to cooperate, then, I guess me'n the rest of the boys will be doing his profile for him ^^]**

**Nickname:** [Annyeong, it's Tyler here. Kaien has a variety of cute and fluffy nicknames, including Kai, Kai-kai, Kai-pon, Kai-pyuu and Social Turtle. Because, he's, you know, normal in private and clams up and hides in his shell of taciturnity with anyone except, say, Razzy. Or when he's yelling at me and Caspy and Winnie- Hey, _ow! _Stop hitting me, Winter!]

**Favourite Food: **[Go away, Tyler. Do you want me to keep hitting you? I thought not. Anyway, Kaien isn't really picky about his food, I guess, but he has _such_ insane tastes. He likes anything that's either extremely spicy or extremely sour and prefers stuff like rice and noodles and non-creamy stir-fry-ish type things. He has weird tastes and he nags us all the time about eating well so Kai-kai is like our mamma-][-_umma_-][-stop it, Tyler, just because you watch K-drama does not give you the right to butcher languages with impunity- Kai cooks well. I guess, out of all of us, he's, like , our substitute housewife or something.][WAIFU!][_TYLER!_]

**Favourite Colour: **[Dark blue. That's an easy answer.][Don't forget black, Caspian. I think about 75% of Kaien's laundry is black, did you know that? We have to run two loads of dark colours! It's stupid!][Stop, Jeh. You're complaining about laundry. Stop.]

**Favourite Hobby: **[Um... how do I answer a question like this? Kaien is a private kind of person, All he does is take walks and shut himself in his room. Which isn't so comfortable for me, 'cause I share a room with him.][When that happens, Raziel either lurks around the common room or makes a nest on Jehan's bed which is kind of awkward because he likes sniffing other people's bed linen and I'm pretty much always around when he does his whole taking naps in other people's-][Winter. Stop.]

**Favourite Pet: **[No comment.]

**Ideal Girlfriend: **[This one is _soooo_ obvious.][Jake.][Jacey.][Miss Jacelya.]['Little Red', as he calls her.]

**Best Friends: **[Me.][No, me.][Obviously it's me, guys.][Stop being unrealistic. It's me!][Hey, no it's me!][IT WON'T BE ANY OF YOU IF YOU DON'T _SHUT UP!_][...sorry, Kai.]

**Favourite Movies: **[Chick fli-][I'm warning you...][-I mean Chinese kung-fu movies.]

**Loves:** [Jake.][His privacy.][Jake, mainly.]

**Hates: **[ALL OF YOU IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP THIS INSTANT! I'M WARNING YOU!]

**Favourite Music: **[This guy is really... classical. Really? Is the 21st century really that intolerable?][And the old geezer gets mad at my screamo alarm clock.][Does _anyone_ not get mad at your alarm clock, Tyler? I've been sharing a room with you for, like, two years already and I still haven't been able to wake up in a good mood since you started with that stupid alarm clock.]

**Favourite Shoes: **[Pffft.][Yeah right.][fat chance of answering this one.]

**Favourite Subject: **[What subject doesn't he like?][This _is_ the Mad Studying King we're talking 'bout, right?][Since when has Mad Studying King _not_ topped every subject between here and the Omega Dimension?][Since, never.]

**Favourite Attack: **[This guy is the ninja master. I am not freaking kidding-][Remember the one time-]

**Internet connection was lost. Check router settings to resolve the issue.**

**[_KAIEN!_]**


	13. Bonus Chapter

**Bonus Chapter: And That's How We Roll In The Deep**

"Hey, c'mon, wake up," a voice above him said, as two warm hands shook him by his shoulders. Winter rolled over and grumbled unhappily.

"Nngh."

"Oi, get up already. I know you can hear me, alright? Get out of that bed, now."

"Don' wanna."

"Hey, you either get up or I strip you, drag you outside and throw you into the lake."

"...don' believe you."

A frustrated growl. The curtains were yanked open, and Winter hissed as the backs of his eyelids were suddenly painted red. He turned over onto his stomach and buried his face in his pillow.

"Sweet baby- Oh screw this. Tor! Cassie! Help me drag this lump out to the lake!"

Raze reached over to the other side of Winter's huddled form and grabbed the edge of the mattress, upending it and dumping Winter onto the floor. She grinned when the huddled cocoon-like blob on the centre of the mattress turned into a flailing, thrashing beached whale on the floor. Winter growled and fumbled at the zipper of his sleeping bag; unexpectedly, he jackknifed out of it and scrambled to his feet. Growling, he crossed his arms over his bare chest and shivered involuntarily as the morning chill caressed his bare skin. Raze gave him a very deliberate, obvious once-over, smirking wickedly. Winter gave her the stink eye and continued to stare her down until she broke out sniggering and threw a shirt at his face.

"Check the just-been-shagged hair, babe," she called, waltzing out of the cabin just as Caspian and Tyler waltzed back in, arm in arm. They burst into uncontrollable snickering as they caught sight of him standing there with a shirt on his head and not much else on him save for his boxers and the sleeping bag twined around his ankles. When the first shoe came flying at their heads, Tyler copped an unexpectedly powerful hit to the forehead and stumbled backward, tripping and landing in his open suitcase bottom first as Caspian was dragged down along with him. When Winter continued to fling things at them, they beat a hasty retreat and rushed out to meet the rest of their group. Riah's gang were huddled together and conversing in low, shivery tones, steam curling from their mouths like dragon-breath. Tor and Jake had slumped together and were in the process of initiating an impromptu nap on the picnic table while Phoenix repeatedly slapped Kaien over the head to keep him awake. Cass lounged casually at the picnic table, flicking through her phone's contents.

"Hnngh," Jehan mumbled, burrowing into his fleecy hoodie and Raziel's beanie more securely over his ears. "It's too cold."

Tor perked up and let Jake slump into the table face first. Grinning predatorily and plastering on the half-closed bedroom eyes and slightly parted lips of a 'come hither' look, she traced a finger along his jawline.

"Let's get you all hot and bothered, then," she purred. Jehan shot out of his seat with surprising rapidity, ducking to hide behind the comatose Zaki. Tor let out a bark of laughter, slapping her thigh and hunching over with shaking shoulders.

"Pfft." Kaien muttered, allowing a small smile to steal across his face. Phoenix beamed.

"See?" she prodded, turning the taller boy about and pulling is face around with both hands to produce a caricature of a smile. "Isn't Kai-kai a lot prettier when he's smiling?"

"Please kindly remove your hands from my face," the aforementioned 'pretty Kai-kai' garbled through stretched cheeks. "I don't think my cheeks are going to return to their original position of you stretch them out for too long."

Phoenix released him with an audible elastic snap. He reeled away, staggering after Jehan and taking refuge behind the now-attached Hope clinging onto the equally unconscious Zaki. A moment of calm ensued, with a minimum of shenanigans and the appropriate amount of early-morning birdsong and dull-roar chatter. Raziel shivered. There was something ominous about that hush.

"HARKER TWINS!" Mirandir yelled. "That's it! I'll kill you little blighters!"

Yep. He must be psychic.

Tor sniggered and Tyler grinned evilly while the rest of them jerked and went ghost-white.

"That does _not_ sound good," Raziel whispered to Jake. Jake took a firmer hold of his upper arm and shook her head vigorously. By that time, pretty much everyone had noticed that Mirandir was screaming curses, bare from the waist up about and waving something in the air with an excess of force.

"Raziel, honey," Cass said, leaning over the table and resting her chin in her hand, "Be a lovely little fluffy darling and go fetch whatever Mirandir's waving about, will you please? I'm just dying to know."

Raziel balked, intimidated by the prospect of facing a wrathful Early Morning Low Blood Pressure Rage Monster, equally so by the amount of cleavage that was associated with Cass in general. Cass blinked owlishly and shrugged, whipping her phone out and snapping gratuitous manservice photos- there was nothing wrong with appreciating a body whipped into shape by mounted aerobatics, none whatsoever.

Aerin snorted and blew her hair out of her eyes, ignoring Cass' antics. Jake leaned her head comfortably on Raziel's shoulder until, of course, he started shivering and freezing up in the preliminary stages of emotional shock. She let go abruptly and dumped the blonde on the freshly changed and entirely disgruntled Winter before seeking the comparatively more normal society of Jehan and Kaien (if 'normal' even included hiding behind Zaki and his dominant female girlfriend, that is).

Adding a volatile Winter into the mix with the already frothing-at-the-mouth Mirandir was a potent mixture for trouble, Jake mused.

"Tor, Tyler, what did you do?" Phoenix asked cautiously as she edged behind the more solidly built Cass.

"Nothin' much", Tor smirked.

Tyler sniggered and said, "We put a dummy video camera on the dresser in the teacher's room. You do know that they can't go more than two nights without-"

Phoenix smacked a hand over Tyler's mouth, hastily covering with a loud, "TMI TMI TMI!"

"-right?" he finished, once Phoenix decided that the TMIs were becoming a little excessive.  
>"So, once they woke up and saw this fake camera pointed at their bed with a love note from us taped to the side, whaddaya think was going to happen?" Tor grinned wolfishly.<p>

"Do you have a _death wish_?"

"Oh, if I had a deathwish, I would've put a _live_ camera on that dresser," Tor drawled. "Or had you guys help me'n Tyler float their mattress out onto the lake. I think mattresses float. Do they? Or maybe they don't. Hn. Details."

"Hah, Tor, it's always the details that decide whether something goes off without a hitch or whether it turns into a big puddle of failed mush," Tyler mused, playfully tugging at his sister's curls. She swiped at his hand, grinning.

"You're spouting wisdom, Tyler," she said, "You are really spouting wisdom! I never thought that this day would come."

Tyler snorted and shoved her. She shoved him off the bench.

Breakfast was, as expected, substandard; however, most of them had come to accept that by then and no major fuss was received on any part. Caspian and Tyler huddled and inhaled the mushy spaghetti on toast while Raziel scolded them for getting sauce all over the table. Raze and Jake swapped secret weapons, commonly known as instant ramen seasoning packets. Phoenix hummed under her breath and tapped at the table insistently. The M couple, still in a bad mood over the whole camcorder incident, decided to be especially sadistic and ordered them out of the dining room as soon as they'd all taken a bite out of their collective breakfasts. One bite. Evil glares were turned upon the Harkers. Tor sniffed and looked down upon them archly.

The gang broke off into their groups and shuffled away to their first activities, shivering and blowing out puffs of steam. Group two shuffled off to the vertical challenge while group three were herded off to the giant swing. Cass pulled the furious Winter away from a gleefully sniggering Phoenix and Jake; Tor swooped upon an unsuspecting Riah and bore her away in a flurry of flailing arms and legs. Katya and Erhyky encroached upon a twitching Arlen while the much-maimed Maverick decided that keeping his distance from a maniacally homicidal Aerin was the order of the day. Zaki attached himself to Hope as if she were a space station spinning through the void.

After a protracted bout of forced cooperation, luring skittish Arlens down from various trees and divesting limping RF boys of harnesses that made even the loosest girl wince with a wedgie, they stopped, sat, recuperated for five minutes and then made their respective ways to the next session of wedgie-tastic team-building.

"Ty," Jake said, nudging the taller boy with one angular elbow, "Are you okay?"

Wincing, he turned a surly expression upon the red-head. Hissing through his teeth, he muttered,"Does it look like I'm alright?"

Blinking, she shook her head. So he was walking funny, listing to the right before tipping to the left in a haphazard fashion with legs planted firmly apart as if he were riding a horse. She figured he'd recover at least before they got to the river/creek/stream/waterway thing, wherever they were kayaking. However, as time went on, the prospect continued to become more and more unlikely.

"Is it still- not, y'know, normal again?" She heard the slap upside the head before she felt it, and she cursed in surprise.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Jake, I _am_ a guy!" Tyler hissed, still doing the awkward waddling walk as he stared ahead quite resolutely, refusing to look at her. "And harnesses _hurt_! Especially when you have to sit in them for extended periods of time-"

"Alright, I get it," she mumbled, feeling chastised. "I _did_ have one on, remember?"

A breath of air escaped him through pursed lips, and Tyler scrutinised her bashful expression closely to see if she was shamming or not. When he was quite sure of her sincerity, he sighed and combed his fingers through his ponytail. Jake took that as a sign to scoot under his arm and give him a waist-hug. Tyler's arm draped over her shoulders and he sighed.

"Jeez, Jake," he muttered. She puffed out her cheeks, and he smiled slightly. "Really, kid?"

"Don't call me kid, Lelly."

"When you stop calling me Lelly."

Jake scoffed, crossing her arms as Tyler's walk drifted back into less 'waddle' and more into a regular limp. "Never."

"Exactly," Tyler smirked. Companionably, they continued their ambling (read: hobbling) stroll, bypassing several small clumps of boys and girls. The boys didn't even deign to cat-call, since Jake was barely taller (and in some cases, slightly smaller) than some of their little brothers and therefore lumped into the same category. However, some of the girls shot appreciative looks while others were a tad more venomous. Jake rolled her eyes. Didn't they have other things to waste their time on, other than silently criticising her for having some sort of seeming audacity. Of all things, she suspected that Tyler and Cassie were on the verge of breaking something like first base and that ew, ew, ew, no way was she going to do something like that with one of the closest bromodachis she had. She made a mental note to curse Phoenix for driving all sorts of ridiculous pop-culture exclamations into her mind.

"Hey, Lelly?" Jake asked, surveying the murky brownish waterway as it converged into her field of vision. "You'll be my kayak buddy, right?"

He eyed her oddly. "_... why_?"

She laughed awkwardly and said, "I have no arm strength."

Snorting, he detached Jake from his side and loped away to choose a kayak that was at least semi-dry.

None seemed to be in residence. Upon taking a seat in one of the kayaks, Tyler blurted a curse and sprang to his feet again, hopping around in the kayak and patting frantically at the soaked seat of his pants. Jake stifled a snort and ended up with a long, drawn out exhalation that sounded like a drugged manatee with sinus congestion. Despite her best efforts to remain dry and splotch-free, she'd had no such luck and had a similar water mark on the back of her lime-green running shorts.

"Sit, Lelly," she said, before her mental filter kicked in. Tyler plopped back down just as quickly as he'd risen, radiating an aura of abject mortification. Jake scoffed again and caught one of the small life-vest floaty thingies that were being passed around. As she twisted in her kayak seat to wiggle the thing over her shoulders, she caught a glimpse of a red-faced Tyler with his hair falling over his face. He scraped it back with both hands and twisted it into a floppy bun to get it off the back of his neck, blowing his fringe out of his eyes as he assiduously avoided looking up for even a moment. Jake thrust a plain metal hair clip under his nose. Tyler blinked, and took the proffered hair accessory.

All measures taken seemed to be in vain, however. Despite carefully avoiding the over-burdened kayaks, two-boy kayaks and the most inexperienced of the inexperienced, they still somehow ended up bashing hulls with three or more of the others in one go, leading to frantic boat-grabbing and a fatal overbalance. Ergo, once they emerged, Jake and Tyler had assumed a state of soaking wetness.

Not bad for no arm strength.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry guys OTL I just ran out of idk ideas and motivation for the rest of the camp chapters so I present to you a bonus fun chappie to tide you over until the next update. No guarantees, however. I'm sorry again ^^;; and thank you to all those who are still faithfully following the Bloodlines gang~Ja mata babes ^u^**


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